5th Lexember Word

ankyoytákpi [änd͡ʑo̞͡ɪˈdäˑkpɪ̆], nominalisation: “cold, cold weather; cold wave, frost“

Aaaand we’re back with the yóy derivatives! Don’t worry, we’re nearly done with cold stuff ;-).

To be more precise, ankyoytákpi is not just a derivation of yóy, but the nominalised form of the verb ankyoyták. The use of nominalisations is extremely common in Haotyétpi; in fact, the -pi in Haotyétpi is the same suffix as in ankyoytákpi. In other words, the name of the language itself is a nominalisation! (it’s the nominalisation of the phrase haotyét: “we speak to each other”)

In terms of semantics, ankyoytákpi refers to the cold as a weather phenomenon, in contrast with yóy which refers to the cold as a property of things. It is commonly found in old stories and fables, but is hardly ever used in modern Haotyétpi language. Haotyétpi speakers will more likely use the verb ankyoyták itself, and if in need of a nominal version, there is a synonym to ankyoytákpi which is much more commonly used. But we’ll see that one tomorrow! :-P

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4th Lexember Word

titúp [t͡ɕiˈduˑp], intransitive verb: “to be cold, to feel cold (to the touch)”

No, we’re not finished with the cold (it’s -1°C here outside right now, so it’s relevant :-P). However, this time the word in question isn’t derived from yóy. Which may seem a bit weird, since titúp has more to do with yóy than the verbs we’ve seen so far. But that’s how languages are.

The intransitive verb titúp refers to things being cold to the touch, either because they actually are at low temperature, or simply because they feel that way (like how metallic objects at room temperature actually feel colder than they are). Titúp forms a neat complementary pair with yesterday’s ankyoyyé:

• Things that ankyoyyé: people in a cold environment, rooms, porches, halls;
• Things that titúp: ice (ice cream!), water, anything coming out of a freezer, dead people.
  

Interestingly, the speakers of Haotyétpi also metaphorically describe a lack of caring for others as coldness, and titúp can also be used of living people to indicate that they are cold-hearted or unfeeling.

Once again, no example today. I’ll make it up for everyone as soon as I can.

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3rd Lexember Word

ankyoyyé [änd͡ʑo̞͡ɪˈje̞ˑ], intransitive verb: “to be cold, to feel cold”

(it seems the reason why IFTTT failed to copy my Tumblr posts to Blogger was the addition of GIFs, so for now I’ll refrain from using them until that problem is solved)

This verb refers to being or feeling cold due to the environment being cold (as evidenced by the prefix ank(e)- present in this verb, just like in yesterday’s verb). While it may seem redundant compared to yesterday’s ankyoyták, the two verbs are actually complementary, and used in completely different situations:

• While ankyoyták is a closed verb that cannot take a subject, ankyoyyé is a normal intransitive verb, and can take any subject that is semantically acceptable, even human beings, including (and in fact most commonly) the speaker.
• While ankyoyták refers to the weather, and thus the outside environment being cold, ankyoyyé is used when someone wants to say that they are feeling cold due to the temperature of the environment around them, or when they want to indicate that they think the enclosed (or at least roofed) space they are in is cold.

In other words, ankyoyták is about the outside world being cold, while ankyoyyé is about closed rooms being cold, or people feeling cold.

Still no example today. I was away all day and haven’t had enough time to think of one…

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2nd Lexember Word

ankyoyták [änd͡ʑo̞͡ɪˈdäˑk], closed verb: “to be cold (as a weather phenomenon)“

(no GIF this time, as I am testing whether that is what causes the IFTTT issue)

So when I wrote yesterday that yóy was the basis for quite a few words, I meant it. Expect this to not be the last word derived from it that I will show during this Lexember event :-P.

This verb refers specifically to the weather being cold. It’s used when you want to say it’s cold outside, and in no other situation. It’s also a bit of a weird verb in that it is closed, i.e. it doesn’t accept any argument (linguists would say it has zero valency). In other words, it cannot even take a subject, and must be used as is.

That’s because in terms of derivation, this verb is actually the intransitive verb nák: “to stand (up)“, with an incorporated subject yóy, and the prefix ank(e)- which indicates that the verb refers to something that is happening to the environment in general rather than to some object in particular. Since the subject is already incorporated into the verb, there’s no place for an additional subject (as for the change from n to t for the first consonant of nák, that’s just a regular sandhi rule that Haotyétpi is subject to: nasals after diphthongs lose the nasalisation and become plain stops).

No example today, once again due to lack of time. I’ll try to make it up in the next entries.

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1st Lexember Word

yóy [ˈjo̞͡ɪ], alienably possessed noun: “cold, low temperature“

Originally posted by png-saturnanimal

So, here we are, Lexember has finally arrived! And for the first word of this month, let’s have something cool :-P.

Seriously, yóy refers to the fact that things can be cold, i.e. objects can have a low temperature. It does not refer so much to the cold sensation nor to a cold weather (we’ll see how Haotyétpi does that in a few days) as to “cold” in general, the property that all cold objects share.

This noun is not commonly used, as one does not usually talk about the concept of cold itself separately from it use to indicate a sensation or a weather phenomenon. However, it is used as the basis for quite a few other words, so I thought it necessary to introduce it first.

No example today due to lack of time. I’ll try to make it up tomorrow :).

(And sorry for the empty post earlier. Unfortunately, IFTTT still seems to have problems with copying the contents of a Tumblr post to Blogger. I'll look into that)

Once Again, Lexember is Close at Hand!

So the weather is getting colder, and the days are getting shorter (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). You know what this means: Lexember is upon us!

As I did in the last two years, I’ll participate with Haotyétpi. That language is still very much in its infancy, vocabulary-wise, and a 31-new-word injection would do it good!

Once again, don’t expect me to follow the themes or topics proposed by others, although I will definitely have a look at everyone’s entries and I’ll get inspiration from them as needed :). Haotyétpi still needs some very basic vocabulary, so I’ll try to focus on that.

As usual, all my Lexember posts will be tagged as such, so filter away if you only want to check those out. Also, I’ll post my words on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, as well as on my Blogger blog (if the IFTTT applet I set up deigns to work), but Tumblr is very much the first place where they will appear.

I’m looking forward to see everyone’s entries. Let’s make this a success again!

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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!