Mirad/Word-building

Taxonomic codification of letters

 * The consonants of root words are taken from a conceptual ontology matrix. For example, all root words beginning with the consonant t have something to do with human beings.  Root words containing the consonant j relate somehow to time.


 * For example, the following words all contain the consonant p, which indicates motion:


 * z&iacute;p travel
 * jap precedence
 * t&oacute;&aacute;p step
 * z&ograve;p regression
 * p&aacute;n jump
 * teap visit
 * mamp flight


 * Similarly, the following words all end in the consonant l, which indicates liquid:


 * mil water
 * vafil wine
 * mal gasoline
 * meil mud
 * vozil paint
 * teabil tear


 * Again, the following words all end in the consonant m, which indicates place, space, location, or position.:


 * tom residence
 * cem table
 * d&eacute;nam library
 * tilam bar
 * epem parking lot
 * mem country

Semantic codification of vowels

 * The vowels in root words have various qualitative and quantitative values based on the following scales:




 * The opposite of a word can often be produced by simply changing a vowel to the "opposing" vowel.


 * The vowels "a" and "o" are opposites in the "series 1".
 * The vowels "i" and "u" are opposites in the "series 2."
 * The vowels "i" and "u" are opposites in the "series 2."




 * Throughout the Mirad word construction scheme, the vowel e always has a neutral or medial value:


 * In hierarchical codification, the vowel o indicates the zeroth or toplevel element of an organization. In a qualitative codification, it has a negative slant.  As a prefix, this vowel can also "nullify" a concept as in the following examples:



Hierarchical codification with ordinal vowels

 * Root words related hierarchically or organizationally differ only in their ordinal vowels. By ordinal vowels is meant that the vowels have inherent numerical values (o  0, a  1, e  2, etc.).  The zeroth element of any hierarchy always contains the ordinal vowel o.  For example, the words for royalty differ only by an enumerative vowel which determines the rank:


 * For further illustration, we can look at how the concept human being is hierarchically codified using ordinal vowels, where the larger the numeric value of the ordinal vowel, the lower the element is in the semantic hierarchy:

Scalability With Contrasting Vowels

 * Words can be semantically constructed along the qualitative scale of "positive", '"neutral", and "negative" through the use of vowels imbued with these values. In Mirad, there are two qualitative vowel series:
 * Words can be semantically constructed along the qualitative scale of "positive", '"neutral", and "negative" through the use of vowels imbued with these values. In Mirad, there are two qualitative vowel series:




 * As implied in the above table, root words with a contrast as semantically opposite with those with o and roots words with i contrast with those with u. Words with e are in the middle between the two extremes.  The second series does sometimes lack a middle value. For example:
 * As implied in the above table, root words with a contrast as semantically opposite with those with o and roots words with i contrast with those with u. Words with e are in the middle between the two extremes.  The second series does sometimes lack a middle value. For example:



Vectorial codification

 * On the vectorial (or: directional, geo-spatial) scale, the vowels have the following general values (see later for a more detailed explanation):


 * Some examples:


 * In the following examples, the vowels i/u and e take on directional values with respect to the doer of the action:

Natural (geological) codification

 * On the natural scale, the vowels have the following values:

Semantic nuancing

 * Semantic nuances and gradations of quality of words are reflected through the "lengthening", that is, addition of a harmonic subordinal vowel to the ordinal vowel, yodification (adding y) of the ordinal vowel, or the addition of one in a series of intensifying (l, r) or distinguishing (c, s, v, f, etc.) consonants, or any of the above techniques in combination. In this scheme, pre-yodification signals a semantic intensification, while post-yodification indicates a weakening or mitigation of sense. A doubling of the vowel usually indicates another kind of lessened strength of the corresponding single-vowel word.  Here are some examples:


 * Post-yodification deintensifies the semantic value of the base word in much the same way as the suffix -ish sometimes mitigates the value of an English adjective.


 * Pre-yodification is sometimes used to intensify the semantic value of the base word:


 * The consonant extenders "l" and "r" are sometimes used to intensify the semantic value of the base word.


 * The ordinal vowel can be extended with a homorganic subordinal vowel in order to add an element of "lengthening" or some other nuance to the meaning of the base word:


 * Here are some examples where all these techniques are employed:


 * The consonants l, r, and c are used to differentiate nuances of words, usually in a positive degree of strength. Other consonants can also be used for derivation.

Mnemonic and analogic association

 * Mnemonics is used to the fullest to associate root words and concepts. For example, the words "neigh", "hehaw", "bark", and "meow" in Unilingua all contain a hint of the animal name with which these are associated. For example:


 * Two or more words are often joined into a single compound, producing a new concept, where the separate elements are suggestive of the meaning of the resulting compound. In some cases, words overlap much like portmanteau words in English (breakfast + lunch = brunch).  (Note, for euphony, if the final consonant of the first root word is the same as the initial consonant of the second root word, one of the consonants is dropped.)


 * The following example of compounding with the root word mep (way, route, road) shows the efficiency of Unilingua compounding:

Root words

 * Root words are divided into two groups:


 * 1st group: nouns.
 * 2nd group: prepositions, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and verbs, that is, all other words.

Root words of the 1st group (nouns)

 * All noun root words are composed of three letters:


 * The first, a consonant, called the classifier
 * The second, a vowel, called the ordinal
 * The third, a consonant, called the generic


 * Examples:

Table of consonant semantic values

 * The letter w does not have semantic value, only grammatical value as the sign of the passive voice. The letter h also has no semantic value; it merely forms the correlative deictics or determinants.

Root words of the 2nd group (non-nouns)

 * All words of the 2nd group, which are word roots other than noun roots, are composed of two letters, either a consonant-vowel combination like za or a vowel-consonant combination like az, not counting grammatical endings like the adjectival suffix -a or the verbal infinitive suffix -er.

Vowel oppositions in 2nd group root words

 * Root words with i &rArr; u opposition :


 * Root words with ternary vowel opposition a &rArr; e &rArr; o and i &rArr; e &rArr; u:

Two-way i/u opposition

 * In 2nd group root words, the vowel i signals a positive value, while the contrasting vowel u indicates the negative or opposite value:

Three-way a/e/o opposition

 * Some 2nd group root words exhibit a three-way contrast where a is the base or positive value, e the middle or in-between value, and o the negative or opposite value:


 * The following table shows how some of the 2nd group root words can be expanded on through various word-building techniques:

Ordinal vowel codification of hierarchical nouns

 * Nouns that are related to one another in a hierarchy or organization can be codified using the ordinal feature of vowels. The o vowel (zero value) is used for the topmost element.


 * Individual elements can be further subdivided into a secondary classification by the addition of an ordinal vowel to the right of the first vowel:


 * A further, tertiary subdivision can be achieved by prefixing an ordinal vowel to the base:


 * A convenient classification is possible by prefixing an ordinal vowel to the base without any primary or secondary enumeration:

Forming concepts by compounding ("portmanteau")

 * New concepts can be formed by compounding simple words. If the generic (final) consonant of the first word matches the classifier (initial) consonant of the following word or his consonantally homorganic with it, the latter is suppressed for convenience and ease of pronunciation:


 * In cases where two ordinated nouns with the same classifier and generic consonants are combined, the vowels are combined:


 * When you wish to form a word composed of words of the same consonantal classification, and the ordinal vowel is o, the o is replaced with the ordinal vowel of the determinant:


 * Two singleton words often join by replacing the generic (final) consonant of the first word with the generic consonant of the second word, producing a melded concept somewhat like portmanteau words in English ("breakfast" + "lunch" "brunch").

Making nouns and pronouns "feminine"

 * The "feminine" counterpart of a noun or pronoun is obtained by post-yodifying the ordinal vowel (i.e. adding a y glide):

Codifying nuances of words

 * There are several ways of deriving related words with slightly different nuances from the original word:


 * The l extender is used for a comparatively stronger sense, while the r extender is used for an even stronger (strongest) sense:


 * The post-yodifying y extender is used for what usually amounts to a diminutive connotation:


 * Pre-yodification of a root vowel often imparts an intensified sense to the word. In any even, the normal and pre-yodified forms are usually related semantically.  Compare:

Summary

 * Here is a list of suffixes that are added to word bases to form derived nouns:

Details

 * Following is a detailed description of the nominalizing derivations suffixes:

The -et suffix

 * The -et suffix is used to form nouns of the same nature, lineage, or composition of a lesser importance:

The -an suffix

 * The -an suffix is used to form a noun of quality or state from an adjective or noun:

The -at suffix

 * The -at suffix is used to form the word for a person described by the adjective base.

The -ut suffix

 * The -ut suffix is used to form the agent for the action described by the verb base "one who does x" or the fabricator of something described by the noun base "one who makes x":

The -tut suffix

 * The -tut suffix is used to form the specialist -ologist or student of something:

The -ob suffix

 * The -ob suffix is used to form the child or younger version of something:

The -ar suffix

 * The -ar, ir, or -ur suffix on a verb base is used for an instrument/tool, machine, or apparatus, respectively.

The -en suffix

 * The -en suffix is used on a verb base for the verbal noun -ing, -ence, -ment, -tion:

The -un suffix

 * The suffix -un is used on a verb base for the concrete result of an action:

The -&aacute;n suffix

 * The suffix -&aacute;n is used on a noun base for collections or groupings:

The -ag suffix

 * The -ag suffix is used on a noun base for augmentatives "big ...":

The -&agrave;g suffix

 * The suffix -&agrave;g is used on a noun base for affectionate augmentatives "big old...":

The -&aacute;g suffix

 * The suffix -&aacute;g is used on a noun base for pejorative augmentatives "big ugly...":

The -og suffix

 * The suffix -og is used on a noun base for diminutives "little...":

The -&ograve;g suffix

 * The suffix -&ograve;g is used on a noun base for affectionate diminutives "sweet little...":

The -&oacute;g suffix

 * The suffix -&oacute;g on a noun base for pejorative diminutives "dirty little..."

The -in suffix

 * The suffix -in is used on a word base for a philosophy or doctrine -ism:

The -a suffix

 * The ending -a is used to mean having to do with, in the state of. This is the most common way to form an adjective from a noun:


 * In Agapoff's original work on Unlingua, the termination a was also used to form the past passive participle of verbs (ota = unknown). In this work, the proposed termination for past passive participle is waa or more simply, wa (ex: otwa = unknown).  See  for more on this.

The -&eacute;na suffix

 * The ending -&eacute;na on nouns is used to give the idea of like, having the nature of:

The -&eacute;a suffix

 * The ending -&eacute;a is used on verb bases to mean tending to:

The -ea suffix

 * The ending -ea is used on verb bases to form the present participle '-ing, -ant':

The -wua suffix

 * The ending -wua is used on verb bases to mean able to be ...ed '-able':

The -&agrave;a suffix

 * The ending -&agrave;a is used on noun bases to mean full of, having, carrying... '-ous, -y'. This comes from -&agrave;, meaning with.  It is synonymous with -ika 'full', presented further on.

The -&ograve;a suffix

 * The ending -&ograve;a is used on noun bases to mean devoid of, without, un-...ed. This comes from -&ograve;, meaning without.  It is synonymous with -uka 'empty', presented further on.

The -ika suffix

 * The ending -ika full is used on noun bases to mean full of '-ful, -ous, -y'. This suffix is synonymous with -&agrave;a.

The -uka suffix

 * The ending -uka empty is used on noun bases to mean the devoid of '-less'. This suffix is synonymous with -&ograve;a and the opposite of -ika and -&agrave;a.

The -&agrave; suffix

 * Change the adjectival ending -a to -&agrave; to form an adverb:


 * Use -&agrave; on noun bases to form an adverbial postpositional phrase mean with...:

The -&ograve; suffix

 * Use -&ograve; on a noun to mean without...:

The -&egrave; suffix

 * Use -&egrave; on a noun to mean by, by way of, through, via...:

The -er suffix

 * The suffix er is used on noun bases to form a verb infinitive.

The -cer and -ser suffixes

 * The ending -cer be/become is used to create intransitive verbs from nouns and adjectives where the intransitive form contrasts significantly with the transitive form. If the adjective is a base, the -a ending is dropped unless 1) the resulting consonant combination would be difficult; or 2) the meaning is literal as opposed to metaphorical, in which case the dropped -a version is taken as metaphorical. For example, aga big becomes either agacer, meaning literally to become big, or agcer, meaning metaphorically to grow, as in Vab agce ga ig&agrave; adjobu mamile. The grass grows faster when it rains.


 * The ending -ser do/make/act/cause is employed to form transitive verbs. In a few cases like teacer/teaser, the opposition of -cer vs. -ser is semantic in nature.  In these cases, -ser imparts a more dynamic meaning.  In a few other cases, -ser is used to form the causative form of a verb, meaning to make/have/cause/let someone do something.

The -per and -per suffixes

 * The ending -per is used for intransitive verbs of motion (going).
 * The ending -ber is used for transitive verbs of gesture (putting):

Cardinal numeric adjectives

 * The cardinal numeric adjectives 0-9 are formed from the ordinal vowels. The tens are formed with the extension consonant l, the hundreds with the consonant c, the thousands with r, the millions with ml, and the billions with mr.


 * Numbers composed with aro (1,000), amlo (1,000,0000), and amro (1,000,000,000) retain the o and are spelled separately from the rest of the numbers with a space.

Ordinal numeric adjectives

 * The ordinal numeric adjectives are formed by adding -a to the cardinal number:

Ordinal numeric substantives

 * When ordinal numbers are used substantively, the letter t is appended for persons and the letter c for things:

Collective numeric substantives

 * Collective (or: multiplicative) substantives of the cardinal numbers are formed by adding on.

Collective numeric prefixes

 * Prefixes having a collective (or: multiplicative) numeric meaning are expressed as:

Fractional numeric substantives

 * Fractional numeric substantives are formed by adding on to the corresponding fractional numeral. The on is dropped in prefixed forms of the fractions:

Frequentative numeric adverbs

 * Adverbs of frequency are formed with the root jig, meaning frequency, rate:

Numeric adjectives of order or rank

 * nap order, rank

Numeric adjectives of degree

 * nog degree, grade, stage

Numeric adjectives of base or bit

 * Add -na:

Numeric prefixes

 * If cardinal numeric morphemes are used as prefixes, -n is added, unless the base to which it is being attached already begins with that letter:

Distance/size measurements (z&aacute;k = meter)

 * (z&aacute;g is width, &aacute;g is length, ag is size, &iacute;ban is distance, &aacute;bag is height, &oacute;bag is depth, g&aacute;n is girth):

Weight measurements (k&iacute;k = gram)

 * (k&iacute;n is weight, k&iacute;ncer is to weigh):

Volume measurements (n&eacute;k = liter)

 * (n&eacute;d is volume):

Math expressions

 * (gaber to add, gober to substract, garer to multiply, gorer to divide, gecer to equal):

Clock time expressions ( j&oacute;b = hour)

 * The international 24-hour clock is used.

Forming chemical element names

 * To form words for chemical elements, use the following method: The first letter is the ordinal vowel for the number of electrons.  The next letters are:


 * m for metals
 * mc for nonmetals
 * al for gases
 * il for liquids

Codifyng new words based on mnemonics and analogy

 * Sometimes a word or group of words can have a connection with the meaning of a derived word. Such words are formed from this derived word by changing the generic final root consonant or sometimes other consonants of this word:

Forming new words with prefixation

 * Prefixed elements (sometimes more than one) can be used to form new concepts related to the root word.

Here are examples where morphemes are joined to der to say:

Forming new adjectival concepts with compounding

 * New adjectival concepts can be readily formed by compounding a noun or other rootword with an existing root adjective:

Word Classifiers

 * The following are common combinatory morphemes used to distinguish or classify entities. Many of them are abbreviated forms.  If you were to produce a list of word rhyming with any of these morphemes, you would have a list of words that all fit within a similar taxonomic category.  For example, all Unilingua words ending in pyot refer to wild animals.  All those ending in il are liquids.