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: Make a plan for any verbal units in nominal roles Note: Create templates for allowable reduced clause forms and gerunds, and create any new forms you need. Tip: You may instead focus on developing other strategies for your conlang in these situations. Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure Use your time today to plan out your strategies…
Goal: Explore options for gerunds in nominal positions Note: Include reduced verb phrases in this exploration—focus on verb forms allowed in nominal positions. Tip: An example is “Baking (cupcakes) relaxes me.” Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Today’s goal is to explore ways verbs can function as nouns, including gerunds (e.g. “Baking relaxes me”), fuller gerund phrases (e.g.…
Goal: Decide whether to allow noun clauses as subjects Note: Even if languages allow this structure, it might be dispreferred by speakers. Tip: An example is “That they gave North Pole the zip code HOH OHO is hilarious.” Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try If your language allows embedded finite clauses to function in nominal positions, consider if…
Goal: Document the noun clause decisions you’ve made Note: It might be the case that you’re documenting how your language handles them in other ways. Tip: Make sure any new inflections or conjunctions are in your dictionary. Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share Today’s focus is documentation. You’ve been prompted to make a lot of decisions on noun…
Goal: Create examples with “if/whether” Note: Focus on situations where “if/whether” would begin a noun clause. Tip: An example is “We don’t know if they are here.” Work focus: Create/Make/List Some languages have a different strategy for indicating a noun clause contains unknown or questioned information. For instance, the English “We don’t know if they…
Goal: Create sentences with cognition verbs Note: Depending on your chosen strategy, these may incorporate embedded noun clauses. Tip: An example is “I believe she wore a purple hat.” Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s focus builds on yesterday’s, focusing on cognition verbs rather than communication verbs, as in these examples: English handles these noun clauses the…
Goal: Create sentences with communication verbs Note: Depending on your chosen strategy, these may incorporate embedded noun clauses. Tip: An example is “She said he is walking here.” Work focus: Create/Make/List A previous goal had been to figure out how your language handles situations where you might embed a noun clause (or complement clause). In…
Goal: Update your verb section to include any new information Note: You may need to add new inflections to charts and dictionary entries. Tip: Even without new forms, you can add sample translations to the verb section. Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share Update your verb section in your documentation to include any new information you’ve created for…
Goal: Create conditional and evidential forms Note: If you don’t mark conditionality or evidentiality, focus on creating examples. Tip: Your examples should show how your language handles these pragmatic details. Work focus: Create/Make/List Create conditional and evidential forms for your language, as needed. If you don’t mark either conditionality or evidentiality (e.g. through an inflection…
Goal: Plan a strategy for evidential meanings Note: Evidential markers are diverse in what meanings they convey and how they are used. Tip: You don’t need to mark evidentiality to be able to indicate it in other ways. Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure Today’s goal is to plan a strategy for communicating evidential meanings, whether that involves…
