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: List templates for basic clause structures Note: These will help focus the upcoming work on verbs. Tip: Make sure the forms are diverse! Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure In preparation for the upcoming focus on verbs, the goal for today is to create some basic clause “template” structures to work with. These will serve as forms…
Goal: Update your dictionary with indefinite forms Note: If you needed new lexical sources, enter those forms, too. Tip: Be sure to use an appropriate lexical category label. Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share As a final wrap-up on this “unit” covering nouns and noun phrases, take the day to enter any new forms in your dictionary and…
Goal: Formalize your indefinite system Note: Write a description with examples in your grammar. Tip: Consider how they interact with inflections like case. Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share Now that you have created several types of indefinite pronouns (and modifiers), today’s focus is on documenting those forms and their uses by writing a description in your language’s…
Goal: Create “absence” indefinite forms Note: These include forms like no, none, no one, nothing, nobody. Tip: Consider whether a singular or plural noun should occur with the modifier form. Work focus: Create/Make/List Finally, turn your focus to the indefinite forms that indicate an absence of an entity. Unlike the other forms discussed so far,…
Goal: Create plural indefinite forms Note: Consider how your conlang may distinguish all versus some or many. Tip: You can create more later on—these are just to get started. Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s goal is to create more indefinite pronoun (and modifier) forms that indicate more one of a given entity, such as some, few,…
Goal: Create singular indefinite forms Note: Create both pronoun and modifying forms (they may be identical). Tip: Even if your language lacks number, it can have a singulative indefinite. Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s goal is to create indefinite modifiers/pronouns that indicate a single entity. For instance, English has forms like one and each to indicate…
Goal: Brainstorm ideas for indefinite pronouns Note: Examples are any, one, many, all, few, some. Tip: Think about their lexical sources, too. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try In the coming week, you will be prompted to create a series of indefinite pronouns. Examples of these kinds of pronouns are any, one, many, all, few, and some. In…
Throughout this week, prompts will focus on creating indefinite pronoun forms (and related modifier forms), documenting those indefinite forms, and then preparing for a focus on clause structures and verb forms. This week ends a major unit that has focused on nouns and noun phrases. Next week will shift to a new focus on verbs!
Goal: Document your demonstrative pronouns Note: Make a chart for the pronouns, if needed. Tip: Update your dictionary, too! Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share Today’s focus is documenting the decisions you made about demonstrative pronouns (or other strategies if you don’t have any such pronoun forms). Inserting a section in the area where you describe nouns and…
Goal: Create demonstrative pronouns (if needed) Note: You may instead create a strategy to use modifiers. Tip: These may be identical to the modifier forms. Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s goal is to create any demonstrative pronoun forms that you need for your language. If the pronoun forms are identical to the demonstrative modifiers, be sure…
