[Lexicog] finding new words in polysynthetic languages

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne Leman" <wayne_leman at sil.org>
To: <lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 9:15 PM
Subject: [Lexicog] finding new words in polysynthetic languages


> This topic of discovering more words of a language's lexicon crops up from
> time to time here on the list. Ron Moe has mentioned his procedure (which
> others have also used) for helping native speakers come up with thousands
of
> words from different semantic domains.
>
> Another method I have found helpful for discovering words in the lexicon,
> especially words which I might not have thought of through semantic domain
> discovery, focuses on changing the members of position classes within
words
> (or in word paradigms for weak verbs and related categories).
>
> In Algonquian languages, such as Cheyenne which I study, there are several
> word position classes, including typical pronominal and pluralization
> prefixes and suffixes. But there are also critically important lexically
> rich classes central in verbs. Some of the most important for verb word
> formation are what Algonquianists call initials, medials, and finals. I've
> had great fun the last couple of days when I have needed a break from
other
> work. I came up with a list of potential words, where I have kept the
> initial constant as /mah/ 'all,' and asked the mother tongue speaker if
> various finals can collocate with that initial (I can extract all the
finals
> out of our lexical database). It's the simple, traditional procedure of
> running through combinations. David Weber mentions the same process in his
> article (about Quechua study) included in the Links section of our list
> website. Probably a number of you have played this lexical "combinations"
> game in the past, especially if you have been studying a polysynthetic
> language. I have played this game in the past, but was triggered to play
it
> again recently when I heard a Cheyenne man give me an initial + final
> combination that I had never heard before and for which I had expected a
> longer "preverb" + verb.root combination.
>
> Of course, a number of my initial + final guesses have turned out not to
be
> words, but many of them are real words which I was not previously aware
of.
> So, I can now add the following to our Cheyenne lexical database:
>
> émâhe'hanao'o they are all eating
>
> émâhohomó'heo'o they are all dancing
>
> émâhá'eneo'o they are all cooking
>
> émâhátamao'oo'o they are all laughing
>
> émâhéoeo'o they are all in one place
>
> émâhoeo'o there is a big pile of them
>
> émâhotse'óheo'o they are all working
>
> émâhoseo'o they are all cold
>
> émâhoéheo'o they are all related
>
> émâhétâhtseo'o they are all fighting each other
>
> émâhasé'seo'o they are all drinking
>
> émâhóeóeo'o they are all standing looking
>
> émâhoxe'êstóneo'o they are all going to school
>
> émâhéstao'o they are all hollering
>
> émâhéstanoveo'o they all live together
>
> émâhoémâhtseo'o they are all related to each other
>
> émâhóehneo'o they have lots of kids
>
> émâheohtseo'o they all came together
>
> émâheotseo'o they all got together, e.g. against one person, or to help
> someone
>
> é- is the prefix for third person
> -o'o is the plural suffix for third person
>
> Wayne
> -----
> Wayne Leman
> Busby, Montana, U.S.A.
> Cheyenne dictionary project:
> http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language/cddicy.htm
>
>
>
>
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