Sixth Lexember Month: Another Month of Haotyétpi Words

So, like last year, December was the Lexember month, and of course I participated, once again with Haotyétpi. While Haotyétpi's grammar is now more or less complete, its vocabulary is still far too small to be usable, so naturally I wouldn't pass on an event whose entire purpose is to create vocabulary! And what an event it was once again!

As with last year, I wrote all my Lexember posts on Tumblr. It is the best platform for this event, hands down. I also automatically shared them on Twitter and manually shared them on Facebook, Google+ and the CONLANG mailing list. The automatic link I had set between Tumblr and this blog somehow failed to work correctly, so I ended up duplicating the Tumblr posts manually here, so that they would also appear on the Conlang Aggregator. Sorry about the empty posts (which I came back to and updated with the correct information), I'm now looking into what caused the automatic link to fail. Hopefully it won't fail me next year!

As I did last year, I will give here the short definitions of the created words and link to the relevant posts. Don't hesitate to follow the links: each Lexember post contains additional information about Haotyétpi in general and the created words in particular, together with topical GIFs and in some cases even example sentences! So, without further ado, here are all the new Haotyétpi words:

1st word: sohé [so̞ˈʝe̞ˑ], alienably possessed noun:

wind, breeze.

2nd word: már [ˈmäˑɾ], intransitive verb:

to be violent, to be intense; to be strong.

3rd word: markó [mäɾˈko̞ˑ], alienably possessed noun:

storm, windstorm.

4th word: wakkumárpi [ʋäkːʊˈmäˑɾpɪ̆], nominalisation:

rainstorm.

5th word: ortáse hón [o̞ɾˈtäˑʑə̆ ˈvo̞ˑn], noun phrase:

thunder.

6th word: remuríp [ɾe̞mʊˈɾiˑp], alienably possessed noun:

lightning, flash of lightning.

7th word: ós [ˈo̞ˑɕ], alienably possessed noun:

sky.

8th word: eków [e̞ˈgo̞͡ʊ], transitive verb:

to cross, to pass, to go through.

9th word: oseków [o̞ʑe̞̽ˈgo̞͡ʊ], intransitive verb:

to strike (for lightning); to fall, to shoot (for a shooting star).

10th word: repé [ɾe̞ˈbe̞ˑ], inalienably possessed noun:

shade, shadow.

11th word: ossép [o̞ˈɕːe̞ˑp], alienably possessed noun:

clouds, cloud cover.

12th word: patíse [päˈd͡ʑiˑʑə̆], inalienably possessed noun:

person, animal, location (or other) of special significance for the possessor; "soulmate".

13th word: táw [ˈtä͡ʊ], alienably possessed noun:

river, stream, brook; riverwater, water from the ground.

14th word: ikkóte [iˈkːo̞ˑd͡ʑə̆], inalienably possessed noun:

rainwater; drinkwater; juice, broth, sauce, consumable liquid.

15th word: mé [ˈme̞ˑ], alienably possessed noun:

tree; wood (material).

16th word: meomá [me̞o̞̽ˈmäˑ], alienably possessed noun:

(tree) branch.

17th word: hayré [hä͡ɪˈɾe̞ˑ], intransitive verb:

to be left, to be on the left side; to go/turn left.

18th word: socú [so̞ˈd͡zuˑ], intransitive verb:

to be right, to be on the right side; to go/turn right.

19th word: aspá [äɕˈpäˑ], transitive (causative) verb:

to put, to place.

20th word: ankehayrép [änd͡ʑe̞̽ɦɐ͡ɪˈɾe̞ˑp], nominalisation:

left side, left area.

21st word: ankesocúp [änd͡ʑe̞̽zo̞̽ˈd͡zuˑp], nominalisation:

right side, right area.

22nd word: pekrépe [pe̞kˈɾe̞ˑbə̆], inalienably possessed noun:

disease, sickness.

23rd word: urún [uˈɾuˑn], intransitive verb:

to tire, to be/get tired.

24th word: tamín [täˈmiˑn], alienably possessed noun:

riverside village, fishermen’s settlement.

25th word: harté [häɾˈt͡ɕe̞ˑ], intransitive verb:

to party, to celebrate.

26th word: saér [säˈe̞ˑɾ], transitive verb:

to enter, to go/come in.

27th word: saériwe [säˈe̞ˑɾɪ̆ʋe̞̽], ditransitive (causative) verb:

to put in, to place inside.

28th word: wessó [ʋe̞ˈsːo̞ˑ], alienably possessed noun:

boat, ship.

29th word: peón [pe̞ˈo̞ˑn], alienably possessed noun:

speech, language; word.

30th word: peorrép [pe̞.o̞̽ˈre̞ˑp], alienably possessed noun:

writing, written words; document.

31st word: imíke [iˈmiˑd͡ʑə̆], inalienably possessed noun:

back, behind; end.

In terms of statistics, before this last Lexember event the Haotyétpi dictionary contained 356 entries (including affixes, clitics and some important phrases). By the end, it contained 388 entries (yes, one more than Lexember entries. That's because of the addition of one suffix -te, created for the harté entry, but which I felt was not productive enough to include as an actual Lexember entry), i.e. a 9% increase in total vocabulary. Not bad for a month of work!

I don't have anything to add that I haven't said before. I still enjoy Lexember as much as when we started with it 5 years ago (5 years already!). I enjoy reading everyone's entries, and it motivates me to create words, which as you know is usually a very tedious activity for me. Count me in once again next December!

Fifth Lexember Month: for Something Completely Different, a Month of Haotyétpi Words

First, let me apologise for leaving this blog to languish for so long. It's not that I haven't been active (anyone who follows my Tumblr blog knows that's not the case). Rather, I haven't been very active with the things I usually share on this blog, in particular with the development of Moten. Basically, what has happened in 2015 is that I burned myself out on Moten. Don't take me wrong: I love my conlang, and I'm glad I've been able to work long enough on a single language that it is now at a near usable point. However, I have also been full of new ideas of linguistic features I'd like to implement in a conlang, and I couldn't implement them in Moten without breaking the language. Still, I was bursting at the seams with ideas. This combination of working on a language that was basically done, apart from the vocabulary, together with this ever present need to create something new, caused me to start resenting working on Moten!

That was, of course, an unacceptable situation! Conlanging is my main hobby, and one of the only activities I find true satisfaction in doing. There was no way I could let it become poisoned for me. So, after a period of self-reflection, and identifying exactly what it was that was bothering me and preventing me from enjoying my work on Moten, I made two decisions:

1. To pause my work on Moten for a while. Clearly, working on a single conlang for an extended period of time doesn't sit well with me. I needed to take a break and refill my Moten batteries, so to speak;
2. To start a new conlang to canalise all those creative juices that were flooding my brains (if you'll allow me to stretch this metaphor to the breaking point). Like I said, I had plenty of new linguistic ideas I was dying to try out, and no way to play with them, creating a situation where my brains basically got blocked. the only way I could unblock it was by letting my creative juices flow in a new language.

And that's basically what I did. I paused my work on Moten and started working on a new language. With so much creative energy just begging to be used, it wasn't long before I had a working language description, which I eventually presented to the CONLANG mailing list back in November 2015. The conlang itself is called Haotyétpi, which is actually a nominalised verb phrase meaning "that which we speak to each other" (it's an endonym. Unlike Moten which is spoken in the here and now and has no associated culture to speak of, Haotyétpi is a more traditional "fictional" language, with a conculture associated to it. Since I don't know whether the world where Haotyétpi is spoken actually contains any English speakers, I don't have an English exonym for it).

As for the language description itself, it is available here (warning: PDF hosted on Google Drive. Good news is that Google Drive's PDF preview feature works well). Since I was working on a new language, I decided to try my hand at new tools for the purpose of documenting it. This language description has been created using XeLaTeX and the Brill typeface via ShareLaTeX (basically an online TeXLive installation, very complete and up-to-date, and with a great in-browser LaTeX editor). Working on this new language has allowed me to test these tools, and I am very happy with the results so far!

So when Lexember came around again last year, I was neither ready to resume working on Moten, nor willing to miss such a fun event. So naturally, I decided to participate with Haotyétpi. Giving such a young language a nice vocabulary injection was too good to pass.

As with last year, I wrote all my Lexember posts on Tumblr, automatically shared them on Twitter and Facebook, and manually shared them on Google+ and the CONLANG mailing list. I hadn't set up an automatic link between Tumblr and this blog for Haotyétpi posts, so they unfortunately didn't appear here or on the Conlang Aggregator, but this post is my way of correcting this oversight. I have now set up that automatic link, so this problem shouldn't happen again.

As I did last year, I will give here the short definitions of the created words and link to the relevant (Tumblr) posts. Don't hesitate to follow these links: each Lexember Tumblr post contains extensive descriptions of Haotyétpi in general and the created words in particular, together with topical GIFs and in some cases even example sentences! Also, Haotyétpi is very different from Moten, with a very distinct phonology, grammar and even semantics, so you really need to read those posts (together with the grammar document I linked to) in order to make sense of these entries. So, without further ado, here are all my new words for a new language:

1st word: wakkú [ʋäˈkːuˑ], alienably possessed noun:

rain.

2nd word: repáta [ɾe̞ˈpäˑtə̆], intransitive verb:

to be/become slow, late.

3rd word: oméw [o̞ˈme̞͡ʊ], intransitive verb:

to be/become early, fast.

4th word: yosék [jo̞ˈʑe̞ˑk], nominalisation:

food, something to eat.

5th word: pusék [puˈʑe̞ˑk], nominalisation:

drink, something to drink.

6th word: eyró [e̞͡ɪ̆ˈɾo̞ˑ], intransitive verb:

to be/become pleasant, liked.

7th word: hekáw [çe̞ˈgä͡ʊ], intransitive verb:

to be/become unpleasant, hated.

8th word: ankése [änˈd͡ʑe̞ˑʑə̆], inalienably possessed noun:

face, look, appearance.

9th word: honé [fo̞ˈɲe̞ˑ], inalienably possessed noun:

voice.

10th word: =nekkon [ɲe̞̽kːo̞̽ŋ], nominalising clitic:

seems like, but is not.

11th word: né [ˈɲe̞ˑ], transitive verb:

to wear (clothes).

12th word: més [ˈme̞ˑɕ], transitive verb:

to be/become attached to.

13th word: nesék [ɲe̞ˈʑe̞ˑk], nominalisation:

clothes, thing to wear.

14th word: tawít [täˈʋiˑt], alienably possessed noun:

cat.

15th word: cupí [t͡suˈbiˑ], intransitive verb:

to sleep.

16th word: iá [iˈäˑ], transitive verb:

to breathe; to smoke.

17th word: inwé [iˈnʋe̞ˑ], transitive verb:

to hold, to carry.

18th word: paró [päˈɾo̞ˑ], transitive verb:

to carry (sthg) on one’s back.

19th word: samar= [sɐmɐɾ], adnoun:

other, another, else.

20th word: meún [me̞ˈuˑŋ], intransitive verb:

to be/become different.

21st word: ricá [ɾiˈd͡zäˑ], transitive verb:

to see, to look at, to watch.

22nd word: cupiapásko [t͡subɪ.ɐˈbäˑɕkə̆], alienably possessed noun:

dream (images seen while asleep).

23rd word: kommés [ko̞ˈmːe̞ˑɕ], intransitive verb:

to see, to look, to observe.

24th word: rí [ˈɾiˑ], transitive verb:

to hear, to listen to.

25th word: sepáne [ɕe̞ˈbäˑɲə̆], inalienably possessed noun:

ear.

26th word: ké [ˈt͡ɕe̞ˑ], alienably possessed positional:

day (24-hour period).

27th word: -(a)p [(ɐ)p], verbal suffix:

to have the quality of.

28th word: -ye [je̞̽], verbal suffix:

to have the quality of.

29th word: ortáse [o̞ɾˈtäˑʑə̆], inalienably possessed noun:

soul, spirit, god.

30th word: ortáp [o̞ɾˈtäˑp], intransitive verb:

to be holy, to be sacred.

31st word: turá [tuˈɾäˑ], alienably possessed noun:

skill, ability; endurance, stamina.

Since Haotyétpi is a very new conlang, I am not going to do any statistics this time. That would be pointless. However, I just want to mention a few things:

• By convention, I type every Haotyétpi word in italics (like I type Moten in bold);
• The romanisation I chose for Haotyétpi is strictly phonemic, up to and including an acute accent to mark stress on the syllable of every word that carries one (including monosyllables). However, Haotyétpi also features plenty of allophony, so I included phonetic transcriptions of the words above in order to make it clearer how they are meant to sound like;
• I cite clitics (independent words that lack their own stress) with a = sign, and affixes with a - sign. In both cases, the position of the sign indicates whether the clitic or affix attaches on the previous or the following word (for clitics, only in terms of prosody). Such signs are only used when citing these forms. In normal Haotyétpi texts, affixes are simply attached to the words they complete, while clitics are written as separate words (their status as clitics is still obvious, dus to the lack of accent mark).

This year's Lexember has cemented my opinion that Tumblr is just the perfect platform for it. It possesses all the social features needed for what is really a group event, the casual atmosphere needed to make it fun, without the restrictions of Twitter's limited post length. However, greatness is not limited to just one platform, and whether on Tumblr, Twitter, Google+, Facebook or the Conlang Mailing List, I enjoyed reading everyone's Lexember entries. This event just keeps getting better with time. I'm looking forward to the next iteration!

Fourth Lexember Month: Yet Again a Month of Moten Words

So, for the fourth time in a row, I've participated in Lexember (check the links for a reminder of what Lexember is). Once again, I've hunted semantic holes in the Moten vocabulary, and filled them with words. And while Moten's vocabulary is still relatively small, I feel that with each Lexember event I get closer to having a usable language :). This time, I really focussed on everyday words, and I think it shows :).

Naturally, things change with time, and I adapted my participation to Lexember to the new situation. And by new situation, I mean my joining Tumblr and Facebook. In the previous Lexember events, I manually posted my words to Twitter and Google+. This year, I did things somewhat differently.

I always felt cramped by the nature of Twitter, which prohibited the long word descriptions I felt I needed to make. So this year, I wrote all my Lexember posts on Tumblr, which allowed me the space I needed while still feeling informal, and allowing the social aspect that is so important to Lexember (Lexember is very much alive in the Tumblr conlanging community by the way). Moreover, posting my words on Tumblr allowed me to automatically share them on Twitter and Facebook too, which I naturally did :). The only manual sharing I had to do was on Google+, as well as on a thread of the Conlang Mailing List :P. And besides that, as you may have noticed if you follow this blog or the Conlang Aggregator, my Lexember posts were also shared here. Automation is a great thing when it works ;).

Because of this, I decided, this year, to handle my Lexember summary differently from other years. Rather than including and expanding the word descriptions here, I will just give the short definitions and link to the relevant posts. So, without further ado, here are all my new Moten words:

1st word: bale /bale̞/, noun:

salt water, seawater, brine, non-drinkable water.

2nd word: balebale /bale̞bale̞/, noun:

sea, ocean, salt lake.

3rd word: i|zipi /id͡zipi/, verb:

to boil, to bake, to cook.

4th word: ba|zip /bad͡zip/, noun:

(table) salt, sea salt, sodium chloride.

5th word: sej(f) /se̞j(f)/, noun:

steam, water vapour; smoke, fume; blur, also as adj. blurry, blurred.

6th word: joami /jo̞.ami/, verb:

to feel, to sense, to notice; to smell, to taste, to feel by touch.

7th word: om /o̞m/, noun:

tree, wood (material).

8th word: ugo /uɡo̞/, noun:

source, spring, fountainhead; origin.

9th word: omgo /o̞mɡo̞/, noun:

tree.

10th word: |labo /ʎabo̞/, |lemekel /ʎe̞me̞ke̞l/, noun:

rainbow.

11th word: bem /be̞m/, noun & ibemi /ibe̞mi/, verb:

light, glow, illumination & to light, to illuminate, to shine on.

12th word: bego /be̞ɡo̞/, noun:

light source, lamp, light.

13th word: buzi /buzi/, noun:

candle; spark plug.

14th word: ma|z /mad͡z/, noun:

(river)bank; edge, side (of a 2D figure).

15th word: imazdu|l /imazduʎ/, verb:

to cut (sthg).

16th word: funma|z /funmad͡z/, noun:

present, the current moment in time.

17th word: elbo /e̞lbo̞/, noun:

rib; flank, side (of a symmetric object); side (of an argument).

18th word: jelzdu|l /je̞lzduʎ/, verb:

to choose, to select, to pick out.

19th word: sili /sili/, noun:

exterior, outside.

20th word: itneboj /itne̞bo̞j/, verb:

to hurt, to injure, to damage.

21st word: tneban /tne̞ban/, noun:

war, warfare, conflict; bad health, also as adj. unhealthy.

22nd word: tneban /tne̞ban/, interjection:

damn, damn it.

23rd word: sfom /sfo̞m/, noun & isfomi /isfo̞mi/, verb:

flow, current; course (of a river), path; period, length (of time); (heavy) rain, downpour & to flow; to float; to change.

24th word: isfomstu|l /isfo̞mstuʎ/, verb:

to pour, to serve.

25th word: keli /ke̞li/, noun:

snow (when falling from the sky).

26th word: kelsin /ke̞lsin/, noun:

snowflake.

27th word: |no|som /ɲo̞t͡so̞m/, noun:

stability, presence, existence; also as adj. stable, present, existing.

28th word: duki /duki/, noun:

solidness, fullness, completeness; also as adj. solid, full, complete.

29th word: puza /puza/, noun:

hole, gap, lack, deficiency, emptiness; also as adj. empty.

30th word: dukpuza /dukpuza/, noun:

fullness, emptiness, level; contents.

31st word: idukstu|l /idukstuʎ/, verb & ipuzdu|l /ipuzduʎ/, verb:

to fill, to fill up & to pierce, to perforate, to empty.

I'm really happy with my performance in Lexember this year. Many of the words above are really basic, useful vocabulary that really needed to be covered. Naturally, the Moten lexicon is still as full of holes as Swiss cheese, but the items I created this year are a big step towards filling the gaps. And for those who want figures, after this iteration of Lexember, the Moten lexicon counts 649 lexical items, and 1843 glosses. After the previous iteration, it counted 586 items and 1572 glosses. That's a growth rate of 11% and 17% respectively, for which slightly less than half can be attributed to Lexember itself. Not bad for just a month's work!

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Lexember this month. I know I say that every time, but this iteration was special: it was the first one I did on Tumblr, and it just feels like the perfect platform for it, possessing the casual atmosphere of Twitter without the crippling restrictions (crippling for me at least). And the ability to schedule posts helped me meet every deadline ;). Finally, I had a great time reading fellow Tumblr users' Lexember entries! Some of them were amazing! In fact, I think everyone did really well this year, whether on Tumblr, Twitter, Google+, Facebook or the Conlang Mailing List :P. Great job everyone!

So, all that's left for me to say is that I will happily participate again next time Lexember happens. So far it's only been a pleasant and useful experience, one I'm more than happy to repeat :). It's not often that I find it fun to create vocabulary after all, so such occasions must be cherished!