Re: Creating New Words

--- Michael Adams <abrigon@...> wrote:

> How robust is your conlang to making new words,
> rules and some way to tell the relationship of an
> older word and the new one or what?
>
> Mike
>
One of my earliest (quasi Anglo-Greco-Latinate, but
mostly isolating) conlangs had an elaborate system of
prefixes and suffixes for deriving new words. For
example (to cut and paste a few lines from my notes):

---------------
-(a)riu -rim (pl. -(a)ri -rimi)

   The -riu and -ri suffixes change the final vowel of
the verb to which they are affixed to "a".

   Affixed to a verb to name a (normally inside, or
enclosed) location where the action described by the
verb takes place.  The suffix -riu usually applies to
a public building or commercial establishment, and
-rim normally indicates a single room.  For example if
we use the verb eso (from German essen, "to eat") we
can form the words esariu for restaurant, or esorim
for dinning room.  A large esariu may have several
esorimi within it.

   Both of these can also be affixed to nouns to
describe places where the thing described by the noun
are to be found.  For example pitsu + riu = pitsariu
(pizzaria), artu + riu = artariu (art gallery or
museum of art), or muziku + rim = muzikurim (music
room).

As an example here are various words for "church".

veno = worship
suplo = pray
invoco = perform a ritual of invocation
ritulo = to perform a ritual
transo = meditate
sacro = consecrate, make sacred

venariu = public place of worship
venorim = shrine room
suplariu = public place of prayer
suplorim = prayer room
invocariu = public place of ritual
invocorim = private ritual room
transariu = public place of mediataion
transorim = private mediatation room

--------------
-(i)lasu, -(i)dasu, -(i)masu

     Like the comparative endings, these can be used
to indicate a degree of skill with which someone
performs the action.  So that, for example, "kantisu"
simply means "singer", while "kantilasu" means some
who is singing, but is not a skilled singer,
"kantidasu" would be a skilled amateur or advanced
student, and "kantimasu" would be a skilled, or master
singer.  The only better singer would be the
"makantimasu", (with prefix ma-) or "master-master
singer".  Or from "bodu" (enlightenment) we would have
"bodimasu" for a highly enlightened person and
"mabodimasu" for "Buddha".

--------------

The list of affixes goes on for many, many pages, but
is still a long ways from complete. Someday I really
should finish building that particular conlang. It was
one of my more fun projects.

--gary

Reply