Re: Using word generators (was Re: Semitic root word list?)

----- Original Message -----
From: "H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 4:46 PM
Subject: Re: Using word generators (was Re: Semitic root word list?)
((snip, snip, snip! Look, paper dollies!))
> A greater concern, I think, is how a word sounds within a sentence (as
> opposed to in isolation).  Many times, a nice-sounding word becomes
> rather awkward when put together with other words, whereas a word that
> may sound ugly in isolation may turn out to be quite mellifluous in
> actual usage. I don't know about anyone else, but I do find myself
> plagued by this frequently in my own conlanging.
>
I have found this to be quite true for me. I often test drive new words in
different kinds of sentences if I am not quite sure about how they are going
to sound in use. For instance, if I am working on a list of nouns, I might
try them all out in sentences like: "I see the X",  "Give that X to John,"
"X's are my favorite thing," "Do you need me to buy you 2 or 3 X's?" and so
on...Sometimes the meaning is silly, but that's not the point. I am
regularly dismayed that words that were so pretty all alone become awkward
in use. It is often when I try the words out together that I start to notice
whether or not I am falling into the trap of all my words sounding basically
the same.

I've done different things for different languages. I'm currently working on
one that's entirely hand-generated at this point, but I think I might resort
to either a random generator or a friend's suggestions after a while. I am
ok with words not sounding 100% right to me, in order to make progress, and
to make the language sound a little more arbitrary/a little less crafted.

Has anyone else used the "ask a friend" method for word generation, or is
that just me and my kind, indulgent friends?

Mia.

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