Building Vocabulary
Constructed Languages
Course 1 · Chapter 10 · Building Vocabulary
A language with sounds and a grammar still has nothing to say until it has words. Vocabulary is the largest job in building a language, so the aim of this chapter is to make it smaller: choose the right first words, build as many others as you can from them, and decide where the roots come from. At the end Meren gets its first word list.
How Many Words, and Which First?
Fluent speakers of natural languages know tens of thousands of words, but a conversation can start with a few hundred. Toki Pona (Chapter 4) shows the other extreme: around 120 core words and a great deal of combining. A designer does not write the dictionary all at once. They write it in order of usefulness.
A good starting point is a core vocabulary list. The best known is the Swadesh list, put together by the linguist Morris Swadesh in the mid-twentieth century from words that almost every language has: pronouns, numbers, body parts, basic actions and features of nature. It was made for comparing languages, but it also works as a checklist for a new one.
| Order | Category | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pronouns and question words | I, you, we, who, what |
| 2 | Basic verbs | eat, see, go, give, make, sleep |
| 3 | Numbers | one, two, three |
| 4 | Nature and surroundings | water, sun, tree, fish |
| 5 | People and body | person, friend, hand |
| 6 | Qualities | big, small, good, bad, cold |
| 7 | Words specific to the world of the language | for Meren: boat, net, river-bend |
Where Do Roots Come From?
The two main sources were introduced in Chapter 2, and every designer makes this choice:
| Source | Idea | Used by | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| A posteriori | Borrow roots from existing languages | Esperanto, Interlingua | Many words look familiar; quick start for learners |
| A priori | Invent roots from your own sound rules | Klingon, Quenya, Toki Pona (mostly) | A distinct feel; every word must be learned |
| Mixed | Borrow some, invent others | Lojban (roots drawn from several languages and reshaped) | Balance of familiarity and independence |
The choice follows from the purpose set in Chapter 1: an international bridge borrows, an invented people invents. Meren is an artlang for a river people, so it takes the a priori route and builds all its words from its own sounds.
Make Words Grow: Roots, Affixes and Compounds
The best way to shrink the dictionary is to let words build other words. Three tools do most of the work, and Esperanto and Klingon use all three:
| Tool | What it does | Esperanto | Klingon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affixes | A small piece changes a root's meaning | lerni → lernejo "school" | Suv → SuvwI' "warrior" |
| Compounds | Two roots join to name a new thing | sunbrilo "sunshine" | tlhIngan Hol "Klingon language" |
| Word families | A root with many related forms | lern-: learn, school, student | Hol: language, speak |
A good affix works on many roots. One agent suffix gives you "eater", "drinker" and "speaker" from three roots, so with fifty roots and five suffixes you can build a few hundred words.
Meren: First Word List
Every word below follows the Meren sound rules from Chapter 8 (nine consonants, five vowels, syllables of the form (C)V(n), stress on the first syllable) and the grammar from Chapter 9. The word list is invented for this course.
Now whole sentences are possible, combining Chapter 9's grammar with these words:
- "You need a huge dictionary before you can use the language." A few hundred well-chosen words, plus affixes, are enough to start.
- "Invented words should sound exotic." They should sound like the language: they follow the same sound rules as all the others.
- "One word, one meaning." Real words overlap and stretch. Allow a word to cover a range, as natural languages do.
Hands-On Exercises
Check these proposed Meren words against the sound rules ((C)V(n), nine consonants, five vowels): kanu, spira, hemo, tluka, lonan, sapit. Say which are possible and which are not, and for each one that fails, name the rule.
📄 View solutionUse the Meren affixes. Form (a) a word for "seer" from pasu; (b) a word for "a place to eat" from teka; (c) a word for "river-fish" as a compound; (d) a word for "boat person" as a compound. Then translate "The seer drinks water" into Meren.
📄 View solutionPlan the first thirty words of a language of your own. List them in order of importance by the categories in this chapter, and say whether you borrow the roots (a posteriori) or invent them (a priori), and why that choice suits the language's purpose.
📄 View solutionChapter 10 Quick Reference
- Write vocabulary in order of usefulness: pronouns, basic verbs, numbers, nature, people, qualities, then world-specific words
- Swadesh list: a core vocabulary list of words almost every language has
- A posteriori (borrowed roots) suits bridge languages; a priori (invented roots) suits artlangs
- Grow words with affixes, compounds and word families
- Check new words against the sound rules and for accidental clashes
- Meren: about 40 first words; suffixes -po (one who) and -lu (place); compound merehamu