Favorite words!

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Micamo
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Favorite words!

Post by Micamo »

What are some of your favorite words? (Conlang words are acceptable too)

I mostly started this topic to get a gist of what euphonic tastes are around here, but if you really like a word for some other reason (like an interesting etymological history) then feel free to post that too.

Some of mine from English, alphabetically:

Cedar
Daimond
Dusk
Imperial
Iron
Mourn
Silver
Torrent

From Agyonnar my favorite words I came up with have to be:

Aldunovar (A very respectful way to address a female)
Raminda (Cooking Hearth)
Thannosel (Bedroom)
Siveran (Snowdrift)
My pronouns are <xe> [ziː] / <xym> [zɪm] / <xys> [zɪz]

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CMunk
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by CMunk »

I like words for their orthography. For example the name Zoë because the letter combination - although strange - seems harmoneous. Also Axl feels cool. The word efeu (ivy) pronounced /efɔɪ̯/ just has a lot of vowels. Oh, and the danish verb for stroke/pet is ae. Some danish verbs have crazy final consonant clusters in their imperative forms, for example: polstr, ytr, cykl, kvidr, bladr.

Then I also like the irregular verbs of danish (and we have quite a few).

infinitive - past
drage - drog
slå - slog
se - så
le - lo
skære - skar
fare - for
forsvinde - forsvandt

And some obsolete ones:
gale - gol
fornemme - fornam
grine - gren
grave - grov

I guess it comes down to imbalance between the numbers of vowels and consonants, and irregularity. Also onomatopoeias can be really cool.
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jseamus
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by jseamus »

I like all sorts of sound configurations, though strange or rare sounds tend to appeal more to me.

["dAbAN] : moral necessity, duty, obligation, destiny
[r\=m "bA.?h] : the sun
dishwasher
undo/undue
Ich (which I pronounce [iC])

Also, words ending in ["eJo].
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Ossicone
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by Ossicone »

I know I've said this before, but my favorite Inyauk word is:
pápatx /'papaʧ/
It means heart and it's onomatopoetic.
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Czwartek
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by Czwartek »

CMunk wrote:Some danish verbs have crazy final consonant clusters in their imperative forms, for example: polstr, ytr, cykl, kvidr, bladr.
Polish is similar, in that it uses 'l' and 'r' word-finally after another consonant, for example cykl (cycle/period), motocykl (motorbike), kadr (frame), wiatr (wind), Piotr (Peter), módl się (pray (imperative)), myśl (idea).

There are also words with 'l' and 'r' word-initially and followed by another consonant, for example lżej (lighter), lwa (lion (genitive), lgnąć (cling to), lśnić (shine), rwa (neuralgia), rdza (rust).

Then there are words which use 'l' and 'r' between two other consonants, for example trwać (last/endure), drwić (mock), krwi (blood (genitive)), módlcie się (pray (imperative plural)), umyślnie (deliberately).

Copying from my post here, some of my favourite English words are:

Curious
Amicable
Aesthetic
Innuendo
Sclerosis
Scoliosis
Listlessness
Espionage
Onomatopoeia
Haphazard
Plethora
Dyslexia


And I absolutely love the Finnish word yöllä (at night).
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by abi »

English:
River
Growth
Rhythm
Wither
Loom
Thwack
Esponge
Sway
Monolith

Other:
Fugl (Icelandic) I dunno why, but it's so damn fun to say.
Smør (Norwegian)
Pferd (German)
雞 (Jī) Mandrin
Ku (Finnish)
peterofthecorn
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by peterofthecorn »

In English:

Fungible
Chutzpah
Snivelling
Deleterious
Schmaltzy
Cartilaginous
Cantankerous
Surreptitiously

In Spanish:

quinceañera (fifteenth birthday)
tacaño (stingy)
ñiquiñaque (garbage)
llover (rain)
zanahória (carrot)

In Hebrew:

בכי (boche--to cry)
חפץ (chefetz--to desire)
אספסוף (safsuf--riffraff)
Adrios
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by Adrios »

English
apt
cozy
convoluted (not sure why I like this one, just do)
beeswax
zebra
hence

I don't know if names count, but one of my favorites is from Adunaic:
Ar-Pharazon.
Seriously, I consider this to be Tolkien's best invention, and one of the most powerful names in literary history. Morgoth sounds like it's trying too hard, but Ar-Pharazon carries a grave sort of elegance. It is an easy name to fear.
I'll see your modal voice triggers, and raise you twenty cases.
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by eldin raigmore »

Flugabwehrkanone.
(Evidence that German is polysynthetic, as if more were needed.)
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by MrKrov »

It is.
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Re: Favorite words!

Post by roninbodhisattva »

One of the recent words that has caught my attention, from Montana Salish:

i t'áqʷqʷqʷqʷ 'the sound of a cracking fire' (try and say this word, it's awesome. All the stops are released. All four of 'em)
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