A language with 500ish roots? it's possible!
Some people have been wondering whether a language with only 500ish roots (525 at the moment to be precise) can actually be efficient.
The secret, as some of you might know, is that Atlas combines these 525 roots (adding as well prepositions and numbers sometimes) in order to create all words. Some people have been wondering whether this system can actually work (and how it works), and here is a good example.
I have chosen animals, for instance, in order to show how easy and intuitive word formation is, and how the 500ish roots system works.
The "animal" root for animal is hen. There are a few henan (animals) that have their own words, so they form roots by themselves: kan (dog), nok (cat), tug (giraffe), hat (elephant), pex (fish), zuz (bird), sep (snake), hax (insect) and only a few others.
Based on some of these roots, we create all animals. The most used ones are hewan, pex, hax, zunz. Even the root mer (sea) can be used in order to be referred to animals (as we will see).
So take the word hewan, adding other roots to its left we get:
xin (line) + hen= zebra
ats (warm, hot) + hen= camel
gar (keep, save) + hen = kangaroo
sar (cold) + hen= penguin
vit (quick) + hen= cheetah
dir (tree) + hen= squirrel
len (slow) + hen= snail
hek (change, modify) + hen= camaleon
wuz (tail) + hen= monkey
its (person) + hen= chimpanzee
dor (sleep) + hen= bear
siv (follow) + hen= sheep
So you see how quickly we can produce new words, take for instance the root zunz now (bird)
vis (see, sight) + zuz = falcon
dar (catch) + zuz = eagle
noc (night) + zuz = owl
mer (sea) + zuz = seagull
or some with toot hax (insect):
vol (fly) + hax = fly
san (blood) + hax = mosquito
hen (one hundred) + hax = centipede
wag(color) + hax = butterfly
ner (black) + hax = beetle
ats (hot, warm) + hax = cockroach
ruq (red) + hax = ladybird
Even with mer (sea):
tag (leg) + mer = octopus
det (behind) + mer = crab
zen (value, cost) + mer = oyster
vem (close) + mer = clam
bis (white) + mer = squid
qez (orange) + mer = prawn
So! you can see how they actually work. See how the complementing word is related somehow to the meaning. For instance, vithena (chetaah), because these animals are very quick, or sivhena because sheep normally follow each other (it is one of their characteristics).
Of course this system is applied for everything in the language, not only animals, but we might see some examples of that at some other point. They work, however, in the same way.
So this is how we form words in Atlas, and you can see how easy it can get. I am sure that after reading this, you remember a at least the composition of a few animals. If I tell you which is the quick+animal construction referring to, would you know?
as always, if you want to add a word that's not in the dictionary, you will see how to do that in my previous post, and you can send it to: atlasbahase@gmail.com
That is it for today, text coming today and a couple of videos probably before the weekend ends.
Cia!
The secret, as some of you might know, is that Atlas combines these 525 roots (adding as well prepositions and numbers sometimes) in order to create all words. Some people have been wondering whether this system can actually work (and how it works), and here is a good example.
I have chosen animals, for instance, in order to show how easy and intuitive word formation is, and how the 500ish roots system works.
The "animal" root for animal is hen. There are a few henan (animals) that have their own words, so they form roots by themselves: kan (dog), nok (cat), tug (giraffe), hat (elephant), pex (fish), zuz (bird), sep (snake), hax (insect) and only a few others.
Based on some of these roots, we create all animals. The most used ones are hewan, pex, hax, zunz. Even the root mer (sea) can be used in order to be referred to animals (as we will see).
So take the word hewan, adding other roots to its left we get:
xin (line) + hen= zebra
ats (warm, hot) + hen= camel
gar (keep, save) + hen = kangaroo
sar (cold) + hen= penguin
vit (quick) + hen= cheetah
dir (tree) + hen= squirrel
len (slow) + hen= snail
hek (change, modify) + hen= camaleon
wuz (tail) + hen= monkey
its (person) + hen= chimpanzee
dor (sleep) + hen= bear
siv (follow) + hen= sheep
So you see how quickly we can produce new words, take for instance the root zunz now (bird)
vis (see, sight) + zuz = falcon
dar (catch) + zuz = eagle
noc (night) + zuz = owl
mer (sea) + zuz = seagull
or some with toot hax (insect):
vol (fly) + hax = fly
san (blood) + hax = mosquito
hen (one hundred) + hax = centipede
wag(color) + hax = butterfly
ner (black) + hax = beetle
ats (hot, warm) + hax = cockroach
ruq (red) + hax = ladybird
Even with mer (sea):
tag (leg) + mer = octopus
det (behind) + mer = crab
zen (value, cost) + mer = oyster
vem (close) + mer = clam
bis (white) + mer = squid
qez (orange) + mer = prawn
So! you can see how they actually work. See how the complementing word is related somehow to the meaning. For instance, vithena (chetaah), because these animals are very quick, or sivhena because sheep normally follow each other (it is one of their characteristics).
Of course this system is applied for everything in the language, not only animals, but we might see some examples of that at some other point. They work, however, in the same way.
So this is how we form words in Atlas, and you can see how easy it can get. I am sure that after reading this, you remember a at least the composition of a few animals. If I tell you which is the quick+animal construction referring to, would you know?
as always, if you want to add a word that's not in the dictionary, you will see how to do that in my previous post, and you can send it to: atlasbahase@gmail.com
That is it for today, text coming today and a couple of videos probably before the weekend ends.
Cia!
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