Re: making up words

Sean M. Burke wrote:
>>>
A question to all language constructors:  once you've settled on the
phonology and phonotaxis of your language-in-progress, how do you go about
making up the phonological forms of new words (as opposed to their meaning)?
Do you use a random number generator?
Or just play it by ear?
<<<

I use Jeffrey Henning's LangMaker software to create random phoneme
sequences, then apply a couple of phonotactic rules to these by hand, and
keep the results in a word list.  When I want a new word, I decide (out of
my own head) how many syllables it should have, then go to the appropriate
bit of the wordlist.  What I do then is to circle the first three unused
words, and decide between them on grounds that I try not to think too hard
about, letting my aesthetic preferences and subconscious associations do the
work.  Finally, I check the existing lexicon for homophones - I agree with
Dirk that homophony is fine with a big lexicon, but Telona hasn't even hit
the three-figure mark yet :(

Jonathan.

'O dear white children casual as birds,
Playing among the ruined languages...'
W. H. Auden, 'Hymn to St. Cecilia'