Category: Conlang Year
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Day 122: May 1, 2024
Goal: Create example compound words Note: Create a variety of forms (e.g. N-N, V-V, V-N, N-V combinations). Tip: In highly analytic languages, compounds may not merge. Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s focus is creating a variety of compound words in your language. Aim to create a variety of forms, demonstrating what your language allows, such as…
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Day 121: April 30, 2024
Goal: Explore options for word-formation strategies Note: Focus first on compounds and derivations before expanding to other options. Tip: Consider how these will interact with your sound changes. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Today shifts the focus to word-formation strategies, specifically focusing on compounding and derivation (though others are possible, these are two that show up in…
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Day 120: April 29, 2024
Goal: Review and clean up dictionary entries Note: You may want to include argument structure information in causative entries. Tip: Consider adding an affixed causative to head word forms. Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure It’s a housekeeping day! Take some time to clean up your dictionary entries and expand them where needed. If your causative strategy involved…
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Day 119: April 28, 2024
Goal: Write a section on your valency-increasing strategy Note: It may make more sense to include this information with your verb inflections. Tip: Incorporate the example sentences you created. Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share Today’s focus turns to documentation of the causative (or other valency-increasing strategy) you created. Depending on how you chose to create the form,…
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Day 118: April 27, 2024
Goal: Create at least one valency-increasing strategy Note: This may involve creating a clause structure and/or creating new forms. Tip: Use examples to find and work out any problem areas. Work focus: Create/Make/List Whether you decided to create a morphological causative (e.g. a derivational affix) or a purely syntactic one (e.g. a particular construction provides…
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Day 117: April 26, 2024
Goal: Make a plan for a valency-increasing strategy Note: Clearly list any verbs or lexical sources you need for your strategy. Tip: Focus first on one strategy before tackling more. Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure Now that you have brainstormed ideas for valency-increasing strategies (such as a causative form), use today to make concrete plans for what…
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Day 116: April 25, 2024
Goal: Brainstorm ideas for valency-increasing strategies Note: While passives decrease valency, causatives increase the valency of a verb. Tip: This may require creating a clausal construction. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Today’s goal is to start generating ideas for how you might handle valency-increasing strategies, such as the causative. A causative adds an argument to a verb’s…
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Day 115: April 24, 2024
Goal: Formalize the passive strategy in your document Note: You may need to add the passive inflection to the head word forms of a verb. Tip: Structure your document so you can easily see examples. Work focus: Solidify/Write/Share Incorporate the example sentences you’ve created to showcase your language’s (anti)passive inflections (or other strategy) into your…
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Day 114: April 23, 2024
Goal: Create examples of passive (or similar) structures Note: Show a variety of combinations with other inflections. Tip: Include both transitive and ditransitive verb examples. Work focus: Create/Make/List Use today to create several example sentences to showcase your passive (or antipassive) strategy. It’s helpful to show these examples in active ~ passive pairs to show…
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Day 113: April 22, 2024
Goal: Plan your strategy for (anti)passivization Note: Decide how to handle situations with an unknown or absent primary argument. Tip: Not all languages have a specific passive inflection. Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure Now that you have explored options for how the (anti)passive can be formed, today’s focus is on planning out your strategy. You don’t need…