Re: New Language
From: | dunn patrick w <tb0pwd1@...> |
Date: | Tuesday, December 15, 1998, 4:23 |
I'm working on a new language, and I thgought I'd seek some input. It's
an inflected language, w.o. VSO.
I've established a system of particles I call "sentence determinates".
They determine the mood and tense of the verb, as well as the exact
meaning of various ambiguo8us words.
For instance, the sentence "kipe prk@t saskot ko" means "chased dog cat
neutral". A statement of plain fact. "kipe prk@t saskot e" means
"chased dog cat negative". In other words, the damned dog chased the
damn cat, damn it. ;)
Where the determinates get sticky is with the use of ambiguous words.
These are of two types, value judgements and gendered terms. For
instance, the word "sena" means "good/bad" depending on the determinate used.
"kipe prk@t senat saskot e" "The bad dog chased the cat."
"kipe prk@t senat saskot @k" "The good dog chased the cat."
"kipe prk@t senat saskot te" "The bad dog chases the cat."
"kipe prk@t senat saskot po*" "The good dog chases the cat."
"kipe prk@t senat saskot teka" "The good dog may have chased the cat."
etc.
My problem is this: (and if you've read this far, you must care) How do
I compound these damned ambiguous terms? For instance, what if the dog
is also "fast/slow" (sena)? I considered having a separate determinate
for each word in the sentence, but that seems to defeat the purpose. I
could also make a grammatical rule aganst using more than ambuiguous term
in a clause. What think ye?
--Patrick