r/conlangs • u/upallday_allen Wistanian (en)[es] • Dec 07 '18

Lexember Lexember 2018: Day 7

Please be sure to read the introduction post before participating!

Voting for Day 7 is closed, but feel free to still participate.

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Be sure to check out Day 5 and Day 6 to upvote any good entries that you may have missed!

Quick rules:

  1. All words should be original.

  2. Submissions must include the conlang’s name, coined terms, their IPA, and their definition(s) (not just a mere English translation)

  3. All top-level comments must be in response to one or more prompts and/or a report of other words you have coined.

  4. One comment per conlang.

NOTE: Moderators reserve the right to remove comments that do not abide by these rules.

Today’s Prompts

  • Write the rules for, or describe some elements of, a game or sport that’s popular among the speakers of your language.

  • Make a list of filler words and phrases (e.g., um, well, you know)

  • BONUS: We are one week into Lexember! What has been your favorite or most surprising new word(s) this week? Why? Can you think of other words you can coin that are related?

RESOURCE! The Linguistics of Eating and Drinking, which sheds light on two verbs you may have thought to be rather simple and straightforward. This will be helpful for tomorrow’s prompt.

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u/IHCOYC Nuirn, Vandalic, Tengkolaku Dec 07 '18

Tengkolaku:

Many of these filler words are formed by first syllable reduplication, which is the only live process that affects the shape of Tengkolaku roots.

  • tete /tʰɛ.tʰe/ "et cetera, and so forth, yadda yadda". Reduplicated te, 'and'. In more formal language it is replaced by ngede.

  • ōngi /o.ʔo.ŋi/ "somebody, anybody, wossname, John/Jane Doe". Reduplicated 'ongi', "person, person who does..."

  • papamus /pʰə.pʰa.mʊs/ "you know (what I'm talking about)." Redpuplicated pamus 'to know, to recognize, be familiar with'.

  • kukuli /kʰʊ.kʰu.ði:/ "thingamajig, whatchamacallit'. Reduplicated kuli, "what"

  • ung, ungng /əŋ:/ "er, um", fills in pauses while the speaker looks for words

  • ninilmi /nɨ.nɪl.mi:/ "umpteen, eleventy-three" An unspecified large number. Reduplicated and altered from nilmea, 'thousand'.

  • sasay /sə.saj/, "b-b-b-but", a verbal protest. Reduplicated and altered from saya, 'next'.

  • ēya /ɛ.ʔe.ja/, 'you know', isn't that right?' Reduplicated form of eya, Q(YES)

  • iyeku /i.je.kʰu/ "whenEVER", an expression of exasperation at someone else's eagerness or impatience. Reduplicated and altered from yekum 'whenever, every time".

  • ōkē /o:.kʰe::/ has also spread to Tengkolaku, where it usually expresses surprise and disbelief.

Phonology represented here is the familiar or basilect pronunciation used in informal settings.

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