I have a lot of lexember stuff below, most of it from Twitter. Since I have more than 280 characters here, I’ve significantly expanded some chunks, such as December 24th’s entry, where I describe how more complicated types of counting work in Tveshi (e.g., how you say you have three bowls of soup instead of just three bowls).
This year’s lexember has been fun! I’m not 100% done with fixing my Tveshi dictionary, but made enormous progress with it. I also started improving some of the grammar sections and developed more of a feel for the very loose prefixes Tveshi uses. As an example, you’ll see a lot of words with the prefix si-, which often makes study of or big-deal version of or ideal when used.
One unexpected outcome is that I wrote down — in the correct place, my LaTeX document — many of the differences between Galasuhi Tveshi (also called common Tveshi, a simplified form of the language) and Standard Tveshi (the language taught in schools).
An example of the difference between standard Tveshi and the Galasuhi dialect is below. In English, it reads: On a warm day, we sauteed meat in spicy-hot floral sauce. We ate by the brook.
Kaulasėa gịhji mesh tessiem aoakonnapėa hi moti ho. Mesh håćiem kayaheyėalumėa.
Kaulasėa gịṙi mero teshiem aoakonnapėa hi moti ho. Mero håćiem kayakeyulėum.
In addition to simplified grammar (a loss of gender in nouns), there are some sound changes. The sound “hj” /ʝ/ becomes “ṙ” /ɹ/, which means that Galasuhi Tveshi has /ɾ/, /ɹ/, and /ʀ/ as three distinct sounds. A merging of a few consonants has led to pitch contrasts, too.
But anyway. On to lexember!
December 22
Ka /kʼɑ/ n. Essence, as in a pure form of something. Sika /ˈsi.kʼʌ/ — abstract quality of something reduced to its essentials.
Adjective kayi /ˈkʼɑ.ji/ — basic. Adjective sikahi /si.ˈkʼɑ.çi/ — back-to-basics, reduced.
Verb asikait /ʌ.ˈsi.kʼait̪/, to essentialize.
December 23
Raue /ɾaʊ͡ɛ/ n. Fried pastry ball that swells when fried. Rauyi /ˈɾaʊ̯.ji/, swelling or puffy. Arauyait /ʌ.ˈɾaʊ̯.jaɪt̪/, to swell, to puff.
Mịraue /ˈmɪ.ɾaʊ͡ɛ/ is bodily swelling. Huturaue /xu.ˈt̪u.ɾaʊ͡ɛ/, a puffy, often cylindrical cushion often found in living rooms and lounge areas.
December 24
On December 24th, I spent most of my lexembering time furrowing my brow at numbers in Tveshi, which are base 12. Someone asked me if Tveshi needs measure words, and I said no, but then I realized that I’d mostly ever just used Tveshi numbers in simple contexts.
I made these two words in the process of formulating some better number-related usage:
Vaue /va͡ʊɛ/ n. Liter, a unit of measurement.
Vou /vou̯/ n. Box.
But beyond that, here are some example sentences with more complex types of numbering.
The prefix jua-, measure of, is typically used on the article in these examples. The thing being measured is first, barring indirect object constructions in examples 6 and 8. The word oć (which takes the N noun class article) is used in situations like 6 and 8 below, where the mass noun itself is being measured.
Examples 5-8 show examples of how nouns that can be divided up interact with container nouns (e.g., boxes, bowls) during counting. Objects like small stones, oil, water, and the like can also take la as a measure word.
- Shei laih juafemị tusa. Water bowl measure of three, AKA, three bowls of water. This is how mass nouns, such as shei, water, can be counted by their containers. Note lack of plural markers.
- Shei hjiu juafemị sia. Water drops measure of five. Again, note lack of plural markers.
- Akateñua sejiña juakin ića hålanol. Persons crowd measure of 144 AKA a crowd of 144 people. This is how collective nouns like sejiña are divided up.
- Ossuet vaue juason koa. Plant oil liters measure of eight AKA eight liters of plant oils. Alternatively, ossuet vaue lason koa. Note lack of plural markers.
- Kuraić vou juafemị hålan. Pens box measure of 12 AKA a box of 12 pens.
- Kuraiyuoć vouć oć juason koa. Pens.DISTRIBUTIVE boxes measure of 8 AKA eight boxes of pens. The distributive case is used to indicate that pens are contained within each of the boxes. One can also say vouć koa, eight boxes.
- In the Galasuhi dialect of Tveshi, kuraiyuoć vouć koa is used more frequently.
- In standard Tveshi, eliminating jua-DET is seen more often in writing and all but the most formal speech. Kuraiyuoć vouć oć koa.
- Raueć laih juafemị koa. Raue bowl measure of eight AKA a bowl of eight raue.
- Raueyėoć laihua oć juason koa. Raue.DISTRIBUTIVE bowls measure of eight AKA eight bowls of raue.
December 25
Matia /ˈmɑ.t̪iʌ̯/ n. Yellow. Matiahi /mʌ.ˈt̪iɑ̯.çi/, adjective yellow. Amatiahit /ʌ.mʌ.ˈt̪iɑ̯.çit̪/, to yellow. Colloquially, matiahi is a synonym of khin, dawn. Matialesė /mʌ.t̪iʌ̯.ˈlɛ.sə/, alternative for porå /ˈpoʊ̯.rɔ/, sun; also pora /ˈpoʊ̯.rʌ/.
Khiaporå /ʀiʌ̯.ˈpoʊ̯.rɔ/ n. Sunlight.
I had technically already made the word matia, but wanted to provide context for the word khiaporå, sunlight — the word I actually made — because December 25th is a festival day for people who practice Religio Romana (Roman polytheism) in addition to the Christian celebration of Christmas, and I thought vocabulary surrounding the sun would be fun to do. In the Hellenic calendar, which is lunar, December 25th doesn’t actually carry much meaning. It fell on lunar days 6 & 7 this year, which are sacred to Artemis and Apollon respectively; last year, it fell on Haloa.
The Tveshi new year falls at about the same time as ours, but on the Winter Solstice, where it marks the beginning of a 10-day (decad-long) festival to celebrate Enahari, the Goddess of the Thousand Million Suns. Enahari is the primary goddess worshipped in the Tveshi state. Other Sabaji cultures place less emphasis on Enahari.
December 26
La /lɑ/ n. Mass, as in something that has mass (matter). Can be used as a measure word for liquids or piles of tiny things. Layi /ˈlɑ.ji/, substantive; often applied to concepts or situations to emphasize their size. Sila /ˈsi.lʌ/ is matter in physics.
Lejė va khono layi.
That’s a substantive fishlike animal.
Here, layi indicates appropriateness for however the massive size is relevant (e.g., it’s enough fish for five people). It could also mean that someone found a good deal on khono at the market.
Olayi /oʊ.ˈlɑ.ji/ means massive.
Lejė va khono olayi.
That’s a massive fishlike animal.
December 27
Maio /maɪ͡o/ n. Wonder, as in the sense of full astonishment at the beauty of the universe or an occurrence in life. Maiohi /ˈmaɪ͡o.çi/, wondrous. Naramaio /nʌ.ˈɾɑ.maɪ͡o/, wonderful.
December 28
Mosau /ˈmoʊ̯.saʊ̯/ n. Prose as a distinct piece of non-verse writing. Adjective mosauyi /moʊ̯.ˈsaʊ̯.ji/. Mosaukouri /moʊ̯.saʊ̯.ˈkʼou̯.ɾi/, a prose writer of fiction or nonfiction. Simosau /si.ˈmoʊ̯.saʊ̯/, prose as a genre.
I did a lot with literary words on December 28th. There’s a separate word for fiction, morė /ˈmoʊ.ɾə/. Fiction can either be verse or prose. Most fiction is verse, admittedly.
There’s a prefix nu- that loosely translates to taste, which can either be used for literal sensory tastes or for metaphorical tastes, such as things people temporarily dip into. The word numorė /nu.ˈmoʊ.ɾə/ is used for short fiction designed to be read during commutes of various lengths.
December 29
Mua /muɑ̯/ n. Night. Muayi /ˈmuɑ̯.ji/, night as adj. Meila muayi, night-child, a word used to describe someone overly inquisitive.
Umua /ˈu.muɑ̯/, the darkness of space. Muanokho /muɑ̯.ˈnoʊ̯.ʀoʊ̯/, the deep shadows in corners after dark.
Nuñamua /nu.ˈɲɑ.muɑ̯/, the sound of animals after dark. Oiamua /ˈoiɑ̯.muɑ̯/, shadow.
December 30
Ñịsh /ɲɪʃ/ n. Sand. Ñịshi /ˈɲɪ.ʃi/, sandy.
Dañịsh /ˈdɑ.ɲɪʃ/, coastline that is a mix of rock/sand at low tide.
Aiñịshi /aɪ.ˈɲɪ.ʃi/, anything abrasive or exfoliating and human-made, such as sandpaper (tusa aiñịshi) or exfoliant (ossuet aiñịshi).
December 31
Vean /vɛɑ̯n/ n. Wilderness. Plural veamua /ˈvɛɑ̯.muɑ̯/. Veani /ˈvɛɑ̯.ni/, wild.
Iveamua /i.ˈvɛɑ̯.muɑ̯/, High Wilds, used to describe outer space. You’ll notice that in my writing, whenever Tveshi is the implicit written language, I use the words High-Wilds or High Wilds instead of off-world. The Tveshi concept of the universe is more like a desert containing many oases, some of which are human-inhabitable. The word planet, peaira, also means garden — there is no distinction.
Iavean /ˈiɑ̯.vɛɑ̯n/, a generic name used for deities associated with wilderness or wild places, adjective iaveani. Tveshi deities with wilderness aspects include Enapuata, Enaoyi, Enameisa, Enashisha, and Enakhiavoshei. The prefix Ena- means Divine and is often (but not always) used with gods.
THANK YOU FOR READING AS I LEXEMBERED THIS MONTH! 😁