Category: Learn/Brainstorm/Try

Goal: Explore options for number bases Note: The goal is to identify what numbers you will need for counting. Tip: You may opt to have a less specific counting system. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Today’s goal shifts the focus to numbers in your conlang. Spend today exploring options for number bases. Some options you might consider…

Goal: Brainstorm ideas for adjective development Note: Think about ways you might derive adjectives from noun and/or verb roots. Tip: Another option is to use nominal modifiers or predicative verbs. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Today’s goal is to brainstorm ideas for ways you might create new adjectives (beyond any basic adjectives you might have in your…

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…

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…

Goal: Explore options for active/passive distinctions Note: Find a strategy that is appropriate for your syntactic alignment. Tip: The focus here is on a valency-reduction strategy. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Another type of inflection that can occur with verbs is passivization. This inflection is special, though, because it actually changes the valency of a transitive verb…

Goal: Explore options for negating verbs Note: Brainstorm potential lexical sources for a negator in your language. Tip: The negator can be an affix, particle, or auxiliary. Work focus: Learn/Brainstorm/Try Today’s focus is on exploring options for negating verbs. You have a variety of options for negation strategies, such as creating an affix that attaches…

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…