Re: Semantic Content of Grammatical Gender?

Alrighty... I'm new to this whole mailing list thing... But onto your
issue!

>Hello all,
>
>About 5 years ago, I started experimenting with grammatical gender in my
>conlang, Angosey.  I decided that it would be neat to have a particle that
>could change the entire meaning of a noun.  For example, one particle
>would
>designate the noun as a physical object, another as an emotion, situation,
>etc.  For example, the noun root "zirath" becomes:
>
>                au zirath			eye
>		al zirath			suspicion, appraisal
>		ay zirath			stillness, watchfulness
>		sa zirath			observation
>		in zirath			vantage point
>		tha zirath		        a far-reaching idea
>
>The idea was to have a purely semantic change that would allow me to coin
>up
>to six different meanings from one root.  This was meant to oppose gender
>particles in French and Spanish, which have absolutely no semantic
>relationship with their nouns unless the noun is an animal or a person
>("la
>table" is semantically no different than "le table").
I've been playing around with the same idea, but with verbs... No
difference really right?
What you have here is sound and might be a better way to do the semantic
class thing with noun than affixing! It adds a certain flavor to the
language.
>
>Then, in 2006, I went to Tanzania and learned Kiswahili.  Kiswahili's
>gender
>system is superficially similar to Angosey's, but I got really frustrated
>by
>the way it was being taught.  For example, we would learn one gender
>particle that referred to "fruits and liquids" only to learn that "car"
>was
>in the same category, and so on.  I think it would have been a lot less
>confusing to have just taught it as a grammatical (rather than semantic)
>distinction, like "le/la" is in French.
>
>I'm running into the same problem with Angosey.  When I coin a new word, I
>have to decide what category a certain meaning should belong to, and it's
>getting to the point where distinguishing via semantics is akin to
>splitting
>hairs.
Alright, I'll give it too you... the class languages of Africe really
leave you with no clear idea of anything... but they are natlangs after
all.
>
>Has anyone else attempted a grammar that made strict semantic
>distinctions?
> Did you run into similar problems, and if so, how did you solve them?
>
>My mind wanders further, into Sapir-Whorf territory.  If I learn a
>language
>(or create a language) with strict semantic categories, does it affect
>how I
>see the world?
Alright... Simply this: A lang is not truly a lang with out a culture to
it [God I sound like Tolkein :)].
Intense metaphorical extrapolation is abound when you have culture
present. Som tips though:
1.) Stick to the very basics and derive more complex words with your six
classes.
2.) Don't be afarid to live a little! Sometimes words like "dance" need to
turn into words like "excitement" via your semantic class system. As long
as you can explain yourself (or at least why the orginal speakers though
that way), you'll be fine.
3.) Look at what this guy does!
http://dedalvs.conlang.org/zhyler/nclasses.html he takes class to a whole
new level and might help out with your problem a little.

Don't worry about how you see the world. In the end... If everyone saw the
world the same way, all of our langs would be so similar. I'm sure your
doing fine. Just take a deep breath and have fun!

I hoped this helped just a bit!
Sorry if this was filled with various nooberies but I still look forward
to see this conlang in all its glory.


May your morphology stay complex and full!
- Brandon M. Green


Don't go reaching for the Mirror Flower and grabbing at the Water Moon....
- Chinese Proverb

The mane of sun pouring down
Erases footprints on thin ice.
Do not fear decption
The world lies atop deception
-Bleach by Tite Kubo

If it rusts, it can never be trusted
If its owner fails to control it, it will cut him
Yes, pride is
Like a blade
-Bleach by Tite Kubo

We think a flower on a cliff is beautiful
because we stop our feet at the cliff's edge,
unable to step out into the sky
like that fearless flower.
-Bleach by Tite Kubo