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: Create any forms you need for marking tense/aspect Note: These may be particles or auxiliaries rather than affixes. Tip: You can create adverbs if you don’t want to mark T/A. Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s goal is to create any forms you need to mark the tense/aspect distinctions you chose to include in your language.…
This week continues a focus on verbs and the inflections they can occur with, from creating more inflections to figuring out negation strategies. The end of the week shifts to documentation to make sure your verb forms are described and exemplified in your language’s grammar.
Goal: Create any index markers you want for your verbs Note: Provide examples—even if the examples just show the lack of index marking. Tip: If you don’t need any index markers, create more verbs! Work focus: Create/Make/List It’s time to start putting your inflectional plans into motion! Today’s focus is on creating any index markers…
Goal: Create verbs to work with in the coming days Note: If you have verb classes, make sure you have at least a few verbs per class. Tip: Verb type can affect case-marking on arguments. Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s goal is to create more verbs—specifically verbs that will be helpful so you can test forms…
Goal: Organize your notes on verb inflections Note: List any strategies and/or lexical items you will need to create for the inflections. Tip: The lexical sources can affect placement of the inflections. Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure It’s an organizational day! Today is set aside for organizing your notes on your ideas for verb inflections so far…
Goal: Consider options for marking non-finite verb forms Note: Focus on the infinitive (to create) and active participle (creating). Tip: One (or both) of these forms may be the bare verb. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Consider whether you want to specifically mark the infinitive form of a verb (e.g. to speak, hablar, sprechen) and, if so,…
Goal: Brainstorm options for tense/aspect Note: Languages often prioritize either tense or aspect in their verb inflections. Tip: T/A may interact with other inflections. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Specifically, today’s brainstorming session is about tense and/or aspect. While you can end up having ways to express both in your language, languages often prioritize either tense or…
Goal: Decide if you want index markers co-occurring with verbs Note: This may include subject-verb agreement or bipersonal marking. Tip: Redundancies help ensure efficient and effective communication. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Verbs can occur with index markers that reflect some aspect of one (or more) of their arguments. Examples of these markers include subject-agreement inflections (i.e.…
Goal: Explore options for verb classes Note: Classes can be based on transitivity, valency, and/or semantics. Tip: Verbs may inflect differently depending on their type. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Before making decisions about what kinds of inflections you want to occur with your verbs (e.g. subject agreement, tense marking, etc.), first consider whether you want all…
This week’s prompts begin a dive into the world of verbs and the many ways they can inflect, beginning with explorations of options for agreement marking (also called indexing) and tense and/or aspect. By the end of the week, you will begin creating your first verb inflections!
