Lexember

A forum for all topics related to constructed languages
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cedh
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Lexember

Post by cedh »

Lexember is a game with the purpose of expanding the lexicon of one's conlang, with an added social dimension. It was first played in December 2012, mostly on Twitter, but I think it should work well on a forum too. The rules are simple: For the duration of one month, every participant will create and publish one word per day, ideally with some short notes about etymology, semantics, or usage, possibly augmented by a glossed example sentence. There will be a Topic of the Week (usually a fairly broad semantic domain) in order to encourage the creation of several semantically related words at a time; however, this topic is optional and you can always choose to create words of a different semantic domain instead. Whether or not you (or others) adhere to the current topic, everyone is of course encouraged to comment on other participants' words, or to let oneself be inspired by them.

If you want to join the game, simply post your Lexember contributions in this thread. You can also use various social media instead or in addition: There will be #Lexember hashtags on Twitter and Google+, and some people are probably going to publish Lexember words on their conlanging blogs as well.

Topics of the Week:
  • Dec 1-7: Categories, Structures, Relationships
  • Dec 8-14: Social Interactions

Have fun!
Last edited by cedh on 09 Dec 2013 11:00, edited 1 time in total.
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cedh
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Re: Lexember

Post by cedh »

My own word for Lexember 1st in Buruya Nzaysa:

ira (n.) 'trash, junk, rejected item' (a loan from Naidda idda).

Derived terms:
- iravo (n.) 'outsider'
- iralɛ (n.) 'nonsense' (lit. 'small trash')

Esaxa nzɔ nzukatu ɔ səmi mvunɛ. Olexa ño u ira salaspo.
EMPH.AUX-3PL>3 TOP.NOM tomato INDEF.ACC mildew hold // OBL.AUX-1PL>3 as.3 INDEF.NOM trash discard
“There’s mildew on these tomatoes. We’ll have to throw them away as trash.”

EDIT:
It turns out I already had a word for ‘junk, rubbish, useless things’ in Buruya Nzaysa: gastu, borrowed from Miwan gwāstu ‘dump’. The main semantic difference between these words is that ira refers to things that are not usable (anymore) for their usual purpose or that don’t have a purpose at all (e.g. rotten food, inedible parts of a plant or animal, or a tool that’s broken beyond repair = things that must be dumped), whereas gastu can also refer to things that are strictly speaking still usable but considered pointless to use (e.g. a tool that doesn’t really make the current task much easier, or a contract that’s not worth the paper it’s written on = things that would better be dumped [but possibly can't be done away with just yet]).
Last edited by cedh on 03 Dec 2013 10:58, edited 1 time in total.
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zee
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Re: Lexember

Post by zee »

Lexember Day 1 with conlang Samin

lagéf (n.) mind

Etymology
From Middle Samin "lakréf" < Old Samin "lakráf" < Proto-Samin-Vasan "lagrápʰ"

Derived Terms
lagéfai (v.) think
lagaféhaf (n.) thought
reírítí lixa kisti o lixati reí kisti · the river god controls the fish and the fish control the river – otísil (pdf)
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Re: Lexember

Post by Ahzoh »

Lexember day 1 from Arkhean

Amnar (v.) to kill

Etymology:
from Old Arkhean "AMNR" - to die-CAUS. < Verkhaza "YNMR" - to die

Derived Terms:
Amyna - (n.) Illness
Alkyn - (v.) to burn
Image Śād Warḫallun (Vrkhazhian) [ WIKI | CWS ]
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Re: Lexember

Post by Man in Space »

Lexember Day 1 from Proto-O:

*hjt [hjs] "be a parent"

Derived terms:
- *hjjt [hjis] "beget, father, mother"
- *hjet [hjes] "parent"
- *rhjet [ʁajes] "parents"
Twin Aster megathread

AVDIO · VIDEO · DISCO

CC = Common Caber
CK = Classical Khaya
CT = Classical Ĝare n Tim Ar
Kg = Kgáweq'
PB = Proto-Beheic
PO = Proto-O
PTa = Proto-Taltic
STK = Sisỏk Tlar Kyanà
Tm = Təmattwəspwaypksma
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Re: Lexember

Post by thetha »

Lexember Day 1 from Taahu:

máísa [máíz̥à] "time"

Derived terms:

máítsi [máít͡sì] "quickly; promptly"
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Re: Lexember

Post by shimobaatar »

Lexember Day 1 From Proto-Agokek

öpres (p-r-s) [ˈøprɛs] (v.) to be genetically related to, to have a positive relationship not entirely based on economics with, to be friends with, to think alike

Derived terms:

paros [ˈpɑros] (n.) friendship, familial relationship, positive relationship
pirus [ˈpirus] (n.) friend, family member, peer, colleague, comrade
Last edited by shimobaatar on 02 Dec 2013 21:23, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lexember

Post by MrKrov »

Lexember Day 1 from (Well, I haven't given this project a name yet)

mrî /mriː/ (n.) potential romantic partner

etymology: monosyllabization of a particularly common name (but not from a conworld)
Plusquamperfekt
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Re: Lexember

Post by Plusquamperfekt »

Miwonša - Day 1

čupro - colour ['tʃu.prɔ]

mični - black ['mitʃ.ni]
thaihwo - white ['t'aɪ.ʍɔ]
honžwo - red [hɔ̃:.ʒwɔ]
yenža - yellow [jɛ̃:.ʒa]
njalni - green [ɲal.ni]
lhuski - blue [ɬus.ki]
hwisna - grey [ʍis.na]
khanzwi - brown [k'ã:.zwi]
ljanžiski - orange [ʎã.'ʒis.ki]
consja - pink ['cɔ̃:.sja]
sjupsi - purple ['sjup.si]
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Re: Lexember

Post by Sangfroidish »

Vorynthel- Day 1

nteddar [ⁿteðːɑɻ] vt categorise, divide into classes or subsets
- ntys [ⁿtɪʃ] n category, class
- hneithe [ˈn̥ejθe] n hierarchy, pecking order
- ynäd [ˈɪnæð] n tier, level, rank, station of authority
- lüscynäd [ˈlysgɪnæð] n superior, person/thing of higher station from "lysc" (over) + ynäd
- zäscynäd [ˈzæsgɪnæð] n subordinate, person/thing of lower station from "sasc" (below) + ynäd
- coucynäd ['kowgɪnæð] n peer, person/thing of equal station from "cau" (even, equal) + ynäd
- lüscynätar [ˈlisgɪnædɑɻ] vt outrank, supersede, be superior to
- zäscynätar [ˈzæsgɪnædɑɻ] vt submit to, be inferior to
- coucynätar [ˈcowgɪnædɑɻ] vt have equal authority to, be a peer of

I just kind of started with "categories" and let my mind wander, seem to have blurred it together with "relations" there [:P]
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Re: Lexember

Post by wintiver »

ṇiʔ [ɳɪʔ]: noun a length of..., a protrusion. This is used almost exclusively with a measure word to further specify the nature of the noun.

ṇiṇiʔ [ɳiɳɪʔ]: a distance, a quantifier of distance.
ṇiṇiṇiʔ [ɳiɳiɳɪʔ]: a network of roads, the system of roads connecting the states under Psaasan rule.
goḍ ṇiʔ [goɖɳɪʔ]: stone outcropping, jetty, spit (geological).
kʼi ṇiʔ [kʼɪɳɪʔ]: a little/pathetic protrusion, (used insultingly akin to "baby dick").
xäuk ṇiʔ [xæʊkɳɪʔ]: an arm (cognitively this includes the hand and fingers).
gzuʔ ṇiʔ [gzʊʔɳɪʔ]: cemetery road, path through or by a graveyard (gzuʔ is a measure word for dead/destroyed/rotten things)
pêus ṇiʔ [pəuzɳɪʔ]: tree branch, crook, walking stick (The measure words are numerous and many of them are specific to phenomena indigenous to the region where the language is spoken. This one for instance generally is used for tree branches belonging to a certain genus of trees which populate the archipelago where Psaasa is spoken.)
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Re: Lexember

Post by Man in Space »

Lexember 2

Inspired by Bristel (on the ZBB)'s kura, Proto-O now has *kwr [kwa] "be male".

Derived terms:
- *kwer [kweʁ] "man, male"
- *kjwr [kjuʁ] "become a man; make a man out of s.o."
- *hkwr [aɣwa] "make a man out of s.o."

The difference between *kjwr and *hkwr is a fine one. Morphologically *kjwr is a transitive verb, but certain verbs in Proto-O (typically stative ones with a noun referent) can be used as reflexives/autobenefactives. Additionally, *kjwr is used with non-sentient subjects (e.g., "the war made a man out of him"), whereas *hkwr can be used with a sentient subject (e.g., "his father made him a man"—think "took him hunting", "took him fishing", "took him hiking", &c.).
Twin Aster megathread

AVDIO · VIDEO · DISCO

CC = Common Caber
CK = Classical Khaya
CT = Classical Ĝare n Tim Ar
Kg = Kgáweq'
PB = Proto-Beheic
PO = Proto-O
PTa = Proto-Taltic
STK = Sisỏk Tlar Kyanà
Tm = Təmattwəspwaypksma
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Click
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Re: Lexember

Post by Click »

Doing both Lexember 1ˢᵗ and Lexember 2ⁿᵈ in same post because I missed the first one.

Lexember 1ˢᵗ

tan [ˈtɒn] v tr eat
  • This is a relatively uneventful word which is also not in line at all with this week's topic – categories, structures and relationships – but I shall make use of the rich participle system Rant possesses to create two new words which fit the topic much better.

    Using the passive participle suffix -ᵃn, I get tanan “food”, or more precisely “what is eaten”, which covers any edible foodstuff eaten by some people out there in the world.
    However, there is also the utilitative participle -et, which yields tanet “food”, or “what is to be eaten”. However, tanet has a different meaning from tanan because it solely includes foods found in traditional Rant cuisine, while tanan has a wider meaning which includes food from foreign cuisines.
Lexember 2ⁿᵈ

véy [ˈɸeːɥ] v tr to parent
  • This one is also not in line with the weekly topic, but the participle system again jumps in to create véyag “parent” using the active participle suffix -ag.
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Re: Lexember

Post by DesEsseintes »

I'm going to join belatedly as well with Meyyın. (Participants are meant to be restricted to one language per person, right?)

Lexember 1

Roots mɥɥ and vyv

mǫy • mǫyy- n. type, sort, kind, species
veyva n. hue (of colour), nuance (in meaning), variety (within same species, model, etc.)

The root mɥɥ is related to the name of the language - Meyyın from the root myy, which means of the best sort; excellent, fine.

Lexember 2

Two kinship terms

Root ʔwm

avvum n. (formal) mother
oumu n. mother
amma n. (informal) mum

Root ʔɰɰ

ėġġir n. older brother
ėġġa n. (informal) older brother
thetha
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Re: Lexember

Post by thetha »

Lexember day 2

Environments are a category, right? It seems like such a broad topic :s

Taahu has a special suffix used for marking locations. Thus we can take the words for sand and snow and turn them into the words for beach and tundra

denás'éw - beach; (also possibly desert)
nííras'éw - tundra
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Re: Lexember

Post by zee »

Lexember 2: Samin

záfi

noun
  • hand
Etymology
< Middle Samin záfin < Old Samin sófnu < Proto-Samin-Vasan tʰófn

Derived Terms
záfnai - (v.) to help
reírítí lixa kisti o lixati reí kisti · the river god controls the fish and the fish control the river – otísil (pdf)
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Re: Lexember

Post by shimobaatar »

Lexember Day 2 From Proto-Agokek


örtek (r-t-k) [ˈørtɛk] (v.) to be of the upper class, to require honorifics when being spoken to, to be wealthy and/or powerful and important


Derived terms:

ratok [ˈrɑtok] (n.) the upper class, honorific language, material wealth, social or political power
rituk [ˈrituk] (n.) a member of the upper class, a wealthy person, someone influential
Plusquamperfekt
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Re: Lexember

Post by Plusquamperfekt »

Lexember 2: Miwonša

žera - under (preposition)

žešni (1) - down (here/there), downstairs (location) (adverb)
žešni (2) - lower (adjective)

žeruloš - under (direction: where to?) (adverb)
žerulok - under (origin: where from?) (adverb)

Footnote:
-uloš and ulok are fossilized forms of the ablative and allative case
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Re: Lexember

Post by Sangfroidish »

Vorynthel- Day 2

vortor [ˈʋoɻdoɻ] vt beget, conceive, father
boträ [ˈvodɹæ] n father

miutar [ˈmɪwdɑɻ] vt give birth to
misrä [ˈmisɹæ] n mother
mird [ˈmiɹð] n daughter
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Re: Lexember

Post by Sḿtuval »

Dvoekánitsa and Xindomitma don't have many words...
They aren't necessarily sister languages, but they have a few similarities, mostly in the lexicon.

Day 1

anizo [a.ˈni.zo] n. mother
nisy [ˈni.sɪ] n. mother

Day 2

lyesmite [lʲe.ˈsmi.te] n. literature
rederdeb [re.ˈde.ɾeb] n. literature
I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.
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