New monster word in Maggel ;)))

Well, one post for just one word may look a bit exaggerated, but this one
really deserves it, as its appearance sums up quite well the spirit in which
I'm creating Maggel (although I'm more under the impression that I'm trying to
decipher it rather then make it :))) ).

The meaning of the word itself is simple: Maggel uses a base-20 numeration
system, and the word itself is the declarative form of 400 (or o": o with a
Hungarian like trema on it in the traditional system which works a bit like the
Greek numbers). The declarative numbers are used when the numbers are simply
named, like in a phone number or address. Other forms include the combined
numbers (tentative name, I just can't find the right adjective to describe
them) which collapse into one category the cardinal, ordinal and multiplicative
numbers, the distributive numbers and the personal numbers.

But back to our 400. Let's stop the suspense and present you its form. It's:
|gdhmabgis|. And now you probably wonder how this Georgian-like monster is
pronounced :))) . Well, you're gonna be surprised, but even more so when I warn
you that the word is regularly written, according to the "rules" of orthography
of Maggel :))) . In pronunciation, this monster is reduced to the nice-sounding
monosyllabic [dvE:Iz]!!!!!

Now how such a thing like |gdhmabgis| can possibly be regularly pronounced as
[dvE:Iz]? Well, actually I'm not gonna give the answer right now, but I'm gonna
let you propose ideas on how to cut down the word, knowing that there is a one-
to-one correspondence between the sounds in the word and the letters and
digraphs that compose the written word. So you just have to decompose the word
in the correct digraphs and give them the right pronunciation (knowing that
there is no trap unlike an example I gave a month ago or so). I'll give you one
hint to start with: the length is separately marked by one of the letters in
the word (and only one, not a digraph).

This exercise is not there just to annoy you people :)) . I want to make the
connection between the written word and the spoken word in Maggel as difficult
to parse as possible, even for words that are "simple" according to the rules
of the language. This is a way to check whether this works or not. Of course,
by taking a look at the archives of the list which contain quite a few words of
Maggel, you'll probably find some other hints that will help (actually, I've
checked with the archives that all the information I already gave to the list
is enough to parse the word correctly :))) ).

But now, let's look what you propose. Just remember: even the regular
orthography in Maggel is suppose to be worse than English and French mixed with
Tibetan ;))))) .

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.

Replies