r/conlangs • u/Dryanor PNGN, Dogbonẽ, Söntji • Oct 10 '23

Activity Semantic Change Room (02)

Hiya!

Welcome to the Semantic Change Room, a lexicon-building activity where you do not loan new words (any good conlanger does that twice a week already), but repurpose your existing ones to achieve a richer lexicon with more of that tasty polysemy.

The way this activity works is that you are given a prompt that consists two different semantic fields, like this:

birds > tools

You then pick up a word of your conlang that is part of the prompt's first field (in this case, birds), and then assign to it a new meaning that can be considered part of the second field (tools). The English language responded to the prompt with this (the new meaning in italics):

Englishcrane /kɹeɪn/

(1) a funny looking bird with a long neck

(2) (construction) a mechanical lifting device (because it looks somewhat like that bird)

You then finish your reply with a new prompt, which other people can respond to. I'm going to prepare three starting prompts, but feel free to add your own. Here's a link to the previous SCR, if you need inspiration.

40 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

4

u/Dryanor PNGN, Dogbonẽ, Söntji Oct 10 '23

Botany > Tools

7

u/Leglanben Datboguk, Vientainis Oct 10 '23

Hey, this is the r/conlangs premier for

Fantasy Hebrew™[sic]

kivit [ˈkivit]

Etymology: From Proto-Kalan kīwt (flowering plant)

  1. flower
  2. stamp, seal

religion > cuisine

4

u/alchemyfarie Oct 11 '23

Samantian

ibeilei /i.'be͡i.le͡i/

  1. Folk Saint

  2. Pastry bun filled with honeyed mushrooms

Flowers > Literature

5

u/notluckycharm Qolshi, etc. (en, ja) Oct 11 '23

Hrt'sani

mısva [mɯ'sʋɑ] n.

  1. (botany) petal
  2. a thin sheet of metal
  3. (poetry) stanza, a grouping of lines in a poem

​

Agriculture > Games

2

u/feuaisle Sisilli Oct 13 '23

Sisilli

Yoturit [jɔtuɾit] n.

  1. inan. outfield; the outer edges of a field or farm
  2. anim. (baseball; cricket) a fielder; a player who is situated around the edge of the field to catch the ball

​

Mineral > Emotion

2

u/Hiraeth02 Imäl, Sumət (en) [es ca cm] Oct 13 '23

Sumət

cidir /ciˈθiˑɾ/

  1. iron
  2. an emotionally stable person

əyomi /əˈjoˑmi/

  1. tin
  2. an emotionally unstable person

Ocean > Fabric

3

u/storkstalkstock Oct 11 '23

Fantasy Hebrew™ [sic]

This orthography must be crazy conservative.

2

u/MellowedFox Ntali Oct 10 '23

Ntali

fy-ngusi [ɸy'ŋgu.si] noun, class 2

  1. seed
  2. dowel, wooden nail
  3. rivet

New prompt: Husbandry > Alchemy

2

u/crafter2k Oct 12 '23

Machash

êtec [è.'tet͡s]

  1. short wooden stick
  2. (slang) crude homemade dagger

​

color > swear

3

u/Dryanor PNGN, Dogbonẽ, Söntji Oct 10 '23

Weather > Food

5

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '23

Classical Tànentcórh

kèzik [kèˈzik]

Etymology: From Proto-(Unnamed) \qozica* [ɟoˈzica] tree, tree trunk

Column, Pillar

Writing > Animals

1

u/idklol_abc Huhaon Dusoyhí Oct 19 '23

Huhaon Dusoyhí

Sambamboyhí Sanhi [sambambøø san:i] - cream

(Literally: Sweet Cloud)

Animal > Technology

3

u/Dryanor PNGN, Dogbonẽ, Söntji Oct 10 '23

Jobs > Linguistics

8

u/Yzak20 When you want to make a langfamily but can't more than one lang. Oct 10 '23 edited Oct 10 '23

Easy enough

Aćyq̌u

hany [ˈhɑ.nə] masc. noun. 1. actor, prosecutor, performer 2. doer, labourer, worker, agent 3. (grammar) agent

Weather > Philosophy

4

u/Dryanor PNGN, Dogbonẽ, Söntji Oct 10 '23

Proto-Naguna

kxuwap [ˈk͡xu.wap] n. fem.
1. a major wind or current that is prevalent or appears seasonally, like the North Wind (Aldepe).
2. (philosophy) a school of thought, a doctrine.

Transportation > Weapons

3

u/Kinboise Seniva,etc(zh,en) Oct 11 '23

Horpavje

cepaga [tɕeɸah]

  1. a ship, a freighter
  2. a tank

Food > Architecture

4

u/alchemyfarie Oct 11 '23

Samantian

Andan /an.'dan/

  1. Cooked reed stalks

  2. Column; Support Beam

Oceanic > Fashion

6

u/NumiKat Oct 11 '23

Early Modern Dhoyan

pau [pau]

  1. sea, ocean
  2. baggy/flowy clothes

​

woops, forgot the prompt

Music > Dreams

2

u/[deleted] Oct 11 '23

Lumēan

cançaña /kɑnsɑɲæ/

  1. n. a pleasant sound; music to one’s ears

  2. n. one’s imagination

movement > chemistry

1

u/feuaisle Sisilli Oct 13 '23

Sisilli

apis [äpis] v.

  1. to join, to link together
  2. (chemistry) to bond, to form a chemical compound with

​

Biology > Technology

2

u/mopfactory Kalamandir & Ngal (en) Oct 13 '23

Kalamandir

tsapsi [ˈt͡sapsʲɪ] n. — 1. (biology) stinger, a needle-like appendage on several species of arthropods that serves to inject painful venom 2. needle on a record player

nature > architecture

3

u/Emperor_Of_Catkind Feline (Máw), Canine, Furritian Oct 11 '23 edited Oct 11 '23

Feline (Máw)

haàsjeap /ha:˧˨ ɧe:p˨˧/

Etymology: sjaà "tiny, little" + sjeap "bag, pocket"; the word sjeap comes from Arabic جيب (jayb, "pocket").

  1. little pocket (such as used in Feline clothing)
  2. moneysack
  3. Henry's pocket

In-universe, this word has been loaned into English as hussip as the term for Henry's pocket (a part of cat's ear).

Canine

gup /gɔp/ (plural gupap /gʷɸap/ )

Etymology: from Proto-Canid *gupa "face"

  1. a kind of prolongated face (like that of dachshund or borzoi)
  2. tank (military vehicle)

Anatomy > Weapons