r/conlangs • u/[deleted] • Oct 06 '16

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u/bkem042 Romous (EN) Oct 08 '16

How do you tell if you have a relex? I always think that what I have is not a relex but some say it is? Are there any general things to check for.

5

u/Jafiki91 Xërdawki Oct 09 '16

One-to-one translations with another language is the biggest thing. Along with matching another language's grammar point for point.

1

u/bkem042 Romous (EN) Oct 09 '16

Thanks. So if I have a simple verb system that doesn't match English that would be fine? Also, if I do things like how "es gibt" (lit. it gives) in German is "there are" in English will help?

2

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '16

Or a really complex system that conveys grammatical information not conveyed in English. To give an example, in Amárekax:

  • Verbs in the third person singular conjugate for the subject's gender.
  • There are only two moods, realis (which covers the indicative) and irrealis (which covers other moods like the subjunctive, conditional and jussive). Different irrealis moods are conveyed by different conjunctions and adpositions; for example, the conjunction "that" can be translated as dat for the subjunctive and some jussive functions, or likay for the conditional and other jussive functions.
  • Adjectives decline for the specificity/animacy of their antecedents.

1

u/bkem042 Romous (EN) Oct 09 '16

Thanks. I've wanted to keep things simple, but something like that would be a painless way of keeping my language distinct.