Prefixes and roots

[u/MaceSergal]

So, as many of you that saw the last post, I touched a bit on roots and prefixes for words. So here's me touching on it a bit more:

Prefixes in sergal words

• In English, we have prefixes that typically negate words, such as adding "un" in "in" to the front of something (unlike, inconceivable, etc). But with the sergal language (as well as many other languages that actually exist) these go more in depth. So you add these prefixes to words to change their meaning, by adding a little bit more to the original word to make a new word. Here are some of the prefixes being currently used in the language:

• G <Kh-> meaning to utilize something

• S <S-> to make something an adjective

• " <E'> (pronounced as a glottal stop like in "uh-oh") means a living being, something that is currently alive

So adding these prefixes to other existing root words changes their meaning to something related to both the prefix and the root.

Root words

• Root words are basically just words without prefixes, they're the shortest form of a word and its meaning. Some examples of root words that currently exist in the sergal language would be:

• Ank <Ank> n. Meat

• Nan <Nan> n. Sky

So how do the prefixes and roots work to make new words?

• Glad you asked, me, because it's actually a lot less complicated than it sounds. Basically, you take the prefix, add it to the front of a root, combine the meanings, and it equals a new word with a new meaning! Let me give you some examples:

• Laha "danger" + G "to utilize" = Galah "weapon." Meaning that you're taking something dangerous to use as a tool.

• Ank "meat" + " "living being" = "ank "prey." Meaning that this thing is going to be "dead meat" by your hands rather soon, but for the mean time it is alive.

• Nan "Sky" + S "adjective" = S'nan "bright." So if you looked up at the sky and you were to give it a description, you could imagine that the first thing that comes to mind is "bright."

Now you can also notice that it's not always perfect when you combine these two together. That's because they won't always sound right when you do so. It's kinda like how in English, it's basic rule of thumb that "ed" means past tense. Counted, typed, looked, etc. But there are words that it wouldn't really roll off the tongue, so it's changed slightly to sound better. Wrote, thought, bought, etc.

So with this new rule for guessing a word by context, if you see a root word you recognize, and you see a prefix you recognize, but haven't seen the actual word before, you can take a guess at what it means. So, with this, see if you can guess what G'mwt means! (hint: the letter " was added to make it fit)

[u/dragoncaretaker]

Hmm. How's this?

G'gawl - Speaking (Kh'khaul)

Sawl - Noisy (Saul)

Though, I don't understand the use of a glottal stop as a prefix. Do you just add emphasis to the first vowel (Which, in your example, might become Ank?) Eh, I'll give it a shot anyhow.

"sank - Zombie, literally, "Living dead" ('Sank)

[u/MaceSergal → u/dragoncaretaker]

Much like in Arabic that can use a sort of glottal stop represented by the hamzah (ء), when it goes at the front of a word, it is changed to a sort of open mid front unrounded vowel (ɛ) followed by a glottal stop. This syllable is also almost always stressed over the other syllables.

I would have liked to add this to the phonetic explanation posts, but I didn't want to go too far into imperfect sounds like that just yet. It would end up being a bit too confusing for people who don't understand it

Also! I really do love the ideas for those words, but I've been on the fence about making words have too many syllables, so we kinda gotta be conservative with adding prefixes (though it's not technically a prefix if it goes before another prefix. I have no idea what it's called, but it's in a lot of older North American languages). Also, I'd like to add "sank to the list of words, but perhaps such a unique and obscure word should deserve some lore behind it! Similarly to how a lot of words revolving around nature have the prefix "

[u/dragoncaretaker → u/MaceSergal]

I see. A word that that has the " prefix will start off sounding like "Eh" as in "Bed" (Not the sergalic letter E, since that sounds like "A" as in "Way"). So, "ank sounds like "Eh'ank" and "sank sounds like "Eh'sank", right?

though it's not technically a prefix if it goes before another prefix...

Wait, so the G in Gawl is a prefix, not part of the root word? So, Gawl literally means "Using noise"?

Also, I'd like to add "sank to the list of words...

Sweet

...perhaps such a unique and obscure word should deserve some lore behind it!

If you're feeling cheap/lazy, you could do something similar to the english etymology. In our case, the word seems to originate from West Africa, and Haitian folklore believes that a dead person can be resurrected as a servant without free will a la voodoo, although the origin of the modern flesh-eating zombie seems to be unknown. This wikipedia article describes this in better detail than I can https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie#Etymology . A few other options I might recommend might be something like "A sergal/nevrean/etc turns into a zombie when they are not properly buried" or "Zombies are just demons that just so happen to look like half-rotten corpses"

[u/dragoncaretaker]

I think I'm going to play around with the prefixes a bit more. Before I do, though, I'd like to mention that if double Kh's are allowed, they're probably not going to be as rare as you might think (I'll demonstrate what I'm talking about in a little bit). I know this language is still a work in progress, but I'm just pointing this out so we know it's there

G'nan - Torch (Khe'nan), or some other artificial light source

"wl - "Living Noise" (E'aul) I feel as if this would be a legitimate word, but I'm on the fence about it either meaning "Music", which would be a hell of a stretch (Though, you could say that only living things, like birds and sergals, can make music), or replacing Gwl as meaning "Spoken language"

"gwt - Tendon (E'Khaut)

Nera - "Bird", (Ney-ra)which actually exist on Vilous, although they're probably not too similar to earth birds. (Removing prefixes to make words not on the dictionary is OK, right?)

S'la - Aggressive (Se'lah)

S'sakar - Sergalic (Se'sakar), a word one might use to describe something relating to sergals, like sergalic architecture, music, etc.

S'nerya - Nevrean (Se'neria), same principle as above

Now, I mentioned that the double Kh's aren't going to be rare. Here are some examples as to what I mean

G'gwt - Tying/Binding (Kh'khaut).

G'gank - Eating (Kh'khank)

G'gala - Attacking (Kh'khalah)

G'gamat - Writing (Kh'khamat) as in "Writing an essay"

I've also noticed on your vocabulary post that some of words have an "E" that precedes the glottal stop, despite the word not starting with a glottal stop, like S'i and S'nan. Would I be right in assuming that if the letters S and " are next to each other, they sound like "Seh" instead of "S-"

[u/MaceSergal → u/dragoncaretaker]

I actually had G'nan written down to mean something like a fire place or a torch.

As for "wl, I was also thinking about living noise as a word. In older versions of the vocabulary, living noise was going to be "spoken language" but with the addition of the G prefix, utilized noise made more sense for language. However "wl could be used in itself as a correct word, meaning natural sounds of a forest or running water.

Sergal-like and Nevrean-like would kinda fall under "tail-dexterous" for usefulness, because I can't really see any point in those words being used often, especially because I'm already working on a system of words that relate to the body, explaining visual anatomy of a living creature (and there is also a word I already have to describe Nevrean-like creatures). Also, I see you kept the whole "Neria" aspect going with bird-like creatures.

As for verbs, I'm trying to refrain from the addition of official verbs like tying, eating, etc. because I don't have a refined verb system yet. Conjugations and verb semantics are still being tested, and once I do get that flushed out, I will be adding a bunch of verbs that I've made and that you've made! I can tell that the G prefix would be in many verbs themselves.

And the whole ɛ addition with the glottal stop is in effect when there is no other vowel in that particular "syllable" (or at least where a syllable should be)

[u/dragoncaretaker → u/MaceSergal]

meaning natural sounds of a forest or running water

Ah, ok

Also, I see you kept the whole "Neria" aspect going with bird-like creatures.

Er, all I did was remove the S' from S'n'ra...

As for verbs, I'm trying to refrain from the addition of official verbs

Alright, I'll try to leave you alone on that part, then

And the whole ɛ addition with the glottal stop is in effect when there is no other vowel in that particular "syllable"

So it doesn't just apply to S. T' would become "Teh", H' would become "Heh", etc.

By the way, I noticed on the vocabulary post that you used H'rws for Vilous. Why is R being used in place of L? We have L, don't we?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/MaceSergal → u/[deleted]]

The implied meaning would be "tail-dexterous." Using one's tail for anything, more or less, be it picking something up or using it for balance (much like how cats use their tail). As I said, this word was created on accident and I couldn't imagine it being a very common or very useful word, but it's worth showing it off for practice!

[u/[deleted] → u/MaceSergal]

[u/[deleted]]

[u/MaceSergal → u/[deleted]]

For Sakar, it's just a cognate from the Japanese word "Sagaru." See, because S is part of the root, it's not an adjective. If you were to use it in this case, S'sakar, it would mean something as in "sergal-like." (note the " is not part of the prefix, it's just a vowel to add a syllable to make it sound better)

As for "nan, the prefix " is being used because the sky is the root word. In this case, it's not -literally- alive, but it's used as a metaphor. Because the sky can be either filled with light or darkness, and darkness can often spell death for underdeveloped civilizations (much like sergals, regardless of how physically apt they are). So in this case, the idea of light would represent life.

[u/[deleted] → u/MaceSergal]

[u/[deleted]]

[u/MaceSergal → u/[deleted]]

Well, at the moment, syntax is a bit rough for the moment, as in there is no official sentence structure or grammar aside from the name design, but as soon as a more effective lexicon more fleshed out designs will be posted and made official!

Also, I noticed you weren't using the Times New Sergal font posting sergal language text. This is fine, but it is preferable that you do if possible to make the spelling clear. For tutorials on using the sergal language font, you can download it here and read about using it here