Re: experimental crocodile phonology questions

--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, "kevinurbanczyk@j..."
<kevinurbanczyk@J...> wrote:

>OBTW: for those curious as to the race of said critter.. I was doing
>this for my sentient crocodiles.
I am presuming from the context that, by "sentient," you
mean "speaking" as opposed to ordinary crocodiles that cannot speak.

In reality, the word "sentient" does not mean that.  It means
either "conscious" or "experiencing feeling or sensation."  Thus,
ordinary crocodiles are, indeed, sentient.

In developing my conculture I encountered several non-human species
that could talk.  I knew "sentient" was the wrong word, but I figured
if the Latin verb "sentire" (to feel) could give us an English  word
based on its present participle, then "loqui" (to speak) could also.
And, indeed, I found one in the Oxford English Dictionary: loquent.
It is obsolete, but it works for me.  I can now talk of loquent
beings, meaning my six human races and a few non-human, all of whom
can speak.

P.S. When the Buddhists speak of the Buddha saving all sentient
beings, they are not referring just to humans, but to all animate
life.

Charlie

Replies