Re: Random |mormon| :-) (was: my proposals for a philosophical language)

In a message dated 1/25/03 12:46:11 PM, romilly@EGL.NET writes:

>Scriptum est:
>
>> >You do realize, don't you, that just by saying that you're begging
>> >someone to put the word "mormon" into their conlang as something
>> >completely random?  Like 'carrot' or 'jumping jacks'? :-)
>
>
>Not a possible Kash word.  Due to r-metathesis, it would have to be
>_mombron_ (-rm- > **/-mr-/ > [-mbr-]).  Doubt that I will use it, as it
>sounds like it might be pejorative in some way, which would not be Nice.
>The /o/s suggest it could be a loan from Gwr (?**mr m1N) and heaven knows
>what naughty~evil meaning it might have in that language.
Kar Marinam would also switch around the /rm/. It wouldn't add a /b/ though -
it takes the reverse approach, so that sequences of //mbr// and //mpr//
become /mr/.

'mormon' /mV4mVn/ actually is a word in Eloshtan. 'mormo' means 'body of
water', and -n indicates a future tense, though noun tenses are a bit
archaic. So, 'a future body of water.' If you had to add any other ending onto
 the noun though, it would end up being homophonous with the subjunctive
version (e.g., 'mormonok" = 'future body of water' or 'hypothetical body of
water'?) - likely one reason why at least the future tense of nouns largely
disappeared.


Josh Roth

Reply