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Washing-machine words (was: Futurese, Chinese, Hz of NatLangs, etc.)

From:Jeffrey Henning <jeffrey@...>
Date:Wednesday, May 15, 2002, 3:19
Kala Tunu <kalatunu@...> comunu:

> wow! all this is truely interesting. IMHO conlangs based on a few hundred
or
> thousands of monosyllabic roots like Vorlin, BrSc or Futurese for that
matter
> are perfectly ok. but once you realize that the list of CVC roots for your
lang
> is no more valid that, say, the list of essential kanjis is, and that
calling a
> dish-washer a "dish washing machine" or a "meal instrument water swirling > bucket" is a matter of personal taste, cultural environment and state of > art---well, then, you understand that conlanging is it
I found this quote inspirational. Dublex is an engineered language whose primary design goal is to develop a maximally effective minimal set of root words. The goal with Dublex's roots is to identify the most productive roots, by analyzing a long list of compounds and seeing which roots are used most often. This will provide quantifiable information on the productivity of specific roots (not the first such analysis, as this has been done with Esperanto and maybe, by now, Lojban). Since I often find that I can create words the most quickly when I am dwelling on a narrow classification (I drafted a few dozen words for windows the other night, for instance), I decided to tackle washing machines and related terms. I was rather surprised to see that out of 5000+ compounds submitted by dozens of people, that basic convenience of modern domestic life, the dishwasher, had not yet been named. Here are some words you may want to define in your own langs: MACHINES FOR WASH/CLEAN X lavmahin [washing/cleaning+machine.] washing machine -- any machine that washes objects; e.g., a carwash, clothes washing machine, dish washer camlavmahin [garment+washing/cleaning+machine.] washer, automatic washer, washing machine -- a home appliance for washing clothes and linens automatically contoplavmahin [bottom(opposite+top)+washing/cleaning+machine.] vac, vacuum, vacuum cleaner, hoover -- an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction; typically used to clean rugs and floors cublavmahin [cup+washing/cleaning+machine.] dishwasher, dish washer, dishwashing machine -- a machine for washing dishes darglavmahin [road+washing/cleaning+machine.] street cleaner, street sweeper -- a customized vehicle with machinery to wash and clean streets (typically used by a municipal sanitation department) dentlavmahin [tooth+washing/cleaning+machine.] electric toothbrush -- a toothbrush with an electric motor in the handle that vibrates the head of the brush marlavmahin [ocean+washing/cleaning+machine.] dredge -- a power shovel to clean debris from a harbor, channel or riverbed perlavmahin [person+washing/cleaning+machine.] shower -- a plumbing fixture that sprays water over a person seblavmahin [self+washing/cleaning+machine.] self-cleaning machine -- any machine that can clean itself, especially an oven suvinlavmahin [swine+washing/cleaning+machine.] hogwash -- a machine for washing swine vatlavmahin [water+washing/cleaning+machine.] wet vac, wet vacuum, wet vacuum cleaner -- an electrical home appliance that cleans up water by suction viclavmahin [vehicle+washing/cleaning+machine.] carwash, car wash -- a bay that a vehicle can be driven into and automatically washed and cleaned by machinery MACHINES THAT WASH/CLEAN USING X lavcisidmahin [washing/cleaning+acid+machine.] acid washer -- a machine that washes with acid to achieve a bleached look; used for blue jeans and other denim clothing lavdartmahin [washing/cleaning+dirt+machine.] sandblast -- a machine using a blast of air or steam to propel sand at high velocity to etch glass or to clean stone or metal surface lavluftmahin [washing/cleaning+air+machine.] vac, vacuum, vacuum cleaner, hoover -- an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction lavnontvatmahin [washing/cleaning+not+water+machine.] dry cleaning machine -- machine that cleans (fabrics) with a solvent other than water lavrocmahin [washing/cleaning+rock+machine.] stonewasher -- a machine that washes with stones to achieve a worn appearance; used for blue jeans and other denim clothing lavventmahin [washing/cleaning+wind+machine.] air shower -- a device using jets of air to blow lint and dust off the staff who work in clean room TOOLS FOR WASHING/CLEANING X dentlavhim [tooth+washing/cleaning+tool.] toothbrush -- small brush with long handle used to clean teeth tabaclavhim [tobacco+washing/cleaning+tool.] pipe cleaner -- cleaning implement consisting of a flexible tufted wire that is used to clean a pipe stem PROFESSIONALS WHO WASH/CLEAN X darglavnic [road+washing/cleaning+professional.] street cleaner, street sweeper -- a worker employed to clean streets (especially one employed by a municipal sanitation department) foctublavnic [chimney+washing/cleaning+professional.] chimneysweeper, chimneysweep, sweep -- someone who cleans soot from chimneys hisanlavnic [horse+washing/cleaning+professional.] stableman, stableboy, groom, hostler, ostler -- someone employed in a stable to take care of the horses LIQUIDS lavlic [washing/cleaning+liquid.] cleansing agent, cleanser, cleaner -- a liquid detergent or chemical agent used in cleaning something mehlavlic [sheep+cleaning+liquid.] sheep dip -- a liquid mixture containing pesticides in which sheep are dipped to kill parasites Best regards, Mr. Clean http://jeffrey.henning.com http://www.langmaker.com

Replies

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