Category: Create/Make/List

Goal: Create third-person pronouns, if needed Note: Semantic gender differs from grammatical gender. Tip: Not all languages have third-person forms. Work focus: Create/Make/List As a first note, you may have decided against having any third-person pronouns in your language. If that’s the case, you can start jotting down ideas for how you might use demonstrative…

Goal: Create second-person pronouns Note: Possessive pronouns may differ from modifiers. Tip: When defining in English, be sure to indicate number. Work focus: Create/Make/List Build on the work you did yesterday to create second-person pronoun forms. Everything from yesterday’s prompt applies to today (e.g. remember to create all the inflected forms you need for your…

Goal: Create first-person pronouns Note: Pronouns are prone to suppletive forms. Tip: Pronouns may hold inflections lost in the noun system. Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s task is to actually create your first-person pronouns! If you don’t have any nominal inflections in your language, you may only have one form to create (which will then be…

Goal: Create demonstrative modifiers Note: Create proto-forms and reduced forms, as needed. Tip: These forms co-occur with a head noun. Work focus: Create/Make/List Now that you’ve spent time brainstorming ideas for the demonstrative modifiers in your language, take time today to actually create any forms you need, which may mean creating new proto-forms for lexical…

Goal: Create forms for possessive constructions Note: This may mean making templates to show word order. Tip: Provide at least one example for each. Work focus: Create/Make/List If you needed to create new markers for possessive constructions, you were tasked with selecting the lexical sources for those markers yesterday. Today’s goal is to actually create…

Goal: Create sources for new adpositions Note: These sources are often nouns or verbs. Tip: The source you choose affects position. Work focus: Create/Make/List Today’s goal is to create lexical sources for adpositions. Once you create the lexical sources, you can reduce the forms to create the grammaticalized adpositions, such as having meho “belly” reduce…

Goal: Create function markers or more nouns Note: Function markers may be affixes, clitics, or adpositions. Tip: As ever, be sure your choices reflect the larger system. Work focus: Create/Make/List As with the past few days, you will either be focusing on simply creating more words to expand the vocabulary of your language or focusing…

Goal: Create definiteness markers or more nouns Note: Some languages have multiple forms that shift for class, number, and/or function. Tip: You may not have any strategies specifically for definiteness. Work focus: Create/Make/List If you decided to forego definiteness marking in your language, then you can spend your time making more nouns. As you continue…

Goal: Create number markers or more words Note: Create proto-forms and their grammaticalized forms if you are marking number. Tip: Basic words like “many” and “one” can indicate number where necessary. Work focus: Create/Make/List If you decided not to have any number inflections in your language, then you can spend the day creating more nouns.…

Goal: Create class markers or new nouns Note: Grammaticalized markers typically reduce in form. Tip: The reduction can be more dramatic than regular sound changes. Work focus: Create/Make/List If you are not going to have any noun classes in your language, then spend today creating more nouns to add to your lexicon. (If you don’t…