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Re: Language, Religion, and an information quest (or somesuch) [Mildly OT]

From:Grandsire, C.A. <grandsir@...>
Date:Wednesday, November 10, 1999, 9:39
Eric Christopherson wrote:
> > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Constructed Languages List [mailto:CONLANG@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU]On > > Behalf Of Grandsire, C.A. > > Sent: Tuesday, November 9, 1999 2:43 AM > > To: Multiple recipients of list CONLANG > > Subject: Re: Language, Religion, and an information quest (or somesuch) > > [Mildly OT] > > > Axiem wrote: > > > > > > Well, I'm not going to get into why, but now I'm trying to come up with > > > a good word that expresses "God" or a supreme entity, etc, and I was > > > wondering how all of you came up with that word/words for your conlangs, > > > if you even have them? > > > The longest form of > > "one" has for the Noli a mystical meaning, meaning "the Universe" or > > "God" for religious Noli. It refers to the totality of things (as a > > whole, not as a juxtaposition). > > I really like that idea, Christophe. In Dhakrathat, I used to use the word > <tani> to refer to the few "higher" deities or spirits, and <kuna> to refer > to all subordinate deities and spirits; there was no differentiation between > the good and evil ones (although the religion definitely sees them as being > either good or evil). Then I thought about using something like <Yachka> > "one-person, he/she of one, he/she which is one, first person," for the > supreme deity, but I never really accepted that. Eventually I hit upon the > word [is"tSa], which I really like, but which doesn't really have an > etymological meaning so far. Another problem with it is that I have to find > an Old Dhak form of the name which will yield the result [is"tSa] or > something like it in the modern language. >
Maybe try to relate it with <Yachka> anyway, by ways of a kind of compounding or old and not-productive derivation. Or maybe a common origin for the word for "one" and the word for "God", but with different evolutions for some reasons (after all, they are not used "exactly" the same way :) ).
> Another idea I've had is to use some sort of word root meaning "exist" but > inflecting it in a way peculiar to just this one word -- some sort of > inflection that would mean not just "one who exists" but possibly also > "existence" or "one who causes to exist" or something. Is there any > precedent for inflections used in only one, or a few, words in a language? > Maybe I could use an archaic form which later becomes non-productive.
Isn't what it is done in Hebbrew? I remember a discussion we had some months ago about the origin of the tetragrammaton and of the other words used to refer to God in Hebbrew. -- Christophe Grandsire Philips Research Laboratories -- Building WB 145 Prof. Holstlaan 4 5656 AA Eindhoven The Netherlands Phone: +31-40-27-45006 E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com