Conlanging can be overwhelming for even the most experienced conlangers—especially in the beginning stages of a new project when swirling swarms of ideas create a flurry of possibilities. I break the process down into daily prompts for a yearlong experience. One year, one conlang. Join me in making this a Conlang Year!
Goal: Strategize a method for adverbial nonfinite clauses Note: Put your ideas into action, creating templates, lexical forms, or whatever you need to support the structure. Tip: Use today to also create examples to showcase how these structures work. Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure Now that you’ve explored options for adverbial non-finite clause structures, put your ideas…
Goal: Brainstorm options for non-finite/reduced adverbial clauses Note: These are participial or infinitival structures that function adverbially rather than as nominals or modifiers. Tip: Like adverb clauses, these are non-embedded forms that add to the information without structural incorporation. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try You have already considered and created non-finite structures that function as modifiers and…
Goal: Expand the section on dependent clauses Note: Incorporate the new information on headless relative clause strategies. Tip: You may consider adding an appendix of features not found in your language to keep them separate. Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share Today’s goal is to expand your documentation of dependent clauses to include information on your headless relative…
Goal: Create examples of headless relative clause-like situations Note: Even if your language doesn’t have these structures, show how you will translate them. Tip: Sometimes you need to figure out strategies for future translations—write these out so you don’t forget them! Work focus: Create/Make/List If your language will have headless relative clauses (or similar structures),…
Goal: Plan a strategy for dealing with headless relative clauses Note: You may not have a similar structure that directly translates in the same way. Tip: Remember to focus on your language and the system you’re building as you make decisions. Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure Today’s goal is to lay out a plan for dealing with…
Goal: Explore options for headless relative clause forms Note: These include structures like “I’ll go wherever you go” or “Love what you do.” Tip: These may be similar to your non-embedded clause forms or to your relative clause strategies. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Take some time to explore options for handling headless relative clause situations in…
Goal: Document your adverb clause decisions Note: Incorporate the examples you’ve created and be sure to explain them. Tip: If you have a special section for dependent clause structures, you can add this documentation to it. Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share Today’s goal is to document all the decisions you’ve made about adverb clauses. Incorporate the examples…
Goal: Create some more examples of adverb clauses Note: Work on expanding your examples to include more complex structures. Tip: If any of your clauses require special inflections, make sure you include examples of them. Work focus: Create/Make/List Expand your work from yesterday to create more examples of adverb clauses and try to create some…
Goal: Create your first examples of adverb clauses Note: Focus on creating simple examples to demonstrate basic features and placement options. Tip: This is the first day reserved for creating adverb clauses—tomorrow will continue the work! Work focus: Create/Make/List You’ve spent time exploring and planning the structures of adverb clauses. Today’s goal is to create…
Goal: Decide if reason/condition clauses will have different structures Note: These clauses may need different T/A marking and conjunctions. Tip: Subordinating conjunctions for these clauses may include “if” and “because.” Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure Decide if reason/condition adverb clauses will feature any differences in structure than other adverb clauses. For instance, a clause beginning with a…
