Re: A small taste

CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU writes:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       Constructed Languages List <CONLANG@...>
>Poster:       Mike Ellis <nihilsum@...>
>Subject:      Re: A small taste
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>I can get almost all of these from one root in Rhean. All exsiting words,
>or
>compounds of existing roots.
>
Neat stuff! Yay for productive roots and compounds! :)

But some more info on some of the words, with cultural explanations

>>iwaritagad - instrument of harvest (traditionally the rice harvesting
>>knife)
This word can mean any tool used for Farming, but it's generally
understood to really mean the cutting knife used for the rice harvest.
Other tools (of which i don't have roots yet) would have specific words
for them (relating to their action such as say the hoe, and spade, etc.)

>>raiwaringat - the farmer
>>caniwari - the field worker
The above could be interchangeable (especially since the circumfix ra-
-ngat seems to be losing favor to can-, but in this case the former affix
is much more specific and relates to the one who does this specific action
solely for his living. Farmers (raiwaringat - /ra?iwari?Nat/) are
considered to be concerned solely with the harvest as their occupation
(all aspects), and fieldworkers (caniwari - /tSan?iwari/) are considered
to be concerned only with the action of harvesting (caniwari are usually
community members who help a family with their harvest, as well as family
members who help with it, but also have other occupations)


>>haiwaritanin - the record of the harvest
ha- -tanin usually is simply a list of whatever the root is.

However, this specific word usually means to the Saalangal the official
national list of harvest totals for that year. Ceremoniously it's part of
the marriage ceremony that lists the "harvest" of the groom dowry (the
list of what the bride "harvests" from the groom)


>>aruiwari - study of the harvest (what was evaluated and learned from it)
aru- has a neat function of forming "study of..." words from English,
rather than say borrowing the words (like "Chemistry" which would be
borrowed as: "kemistri"



>>iwariyas - a small harvest
In this sense it's perjorative because it implies the farmer did a poor
job of farming. But this is simply the diminutive.

>>paliiwari - from the harvest
Usually pali- means "one whose origin is...", but it's been broadened to
mean simply "from the..." whether it's a person or a thing.

Nationality names in Saalangal however tend to follow what the people of
that country call themselves (and also because it's like not too pretty
with this affix to blend country names in Saalangal transcription)

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