#worbon

[vilikemorgenthal]

Lexember #5 : muntawa

Conlang: Worbon

First invented for a conworld by the name of La Scène, it became orphaned when this project was terminated. But, by virtue of being the only workable conlang from there, and also quite pretty, it was salvaged and waits for its perfect conworld.

The word

muntawa /ˈmuntawa/, ni:

skin oil, sebum

everyday manner of being/gestalt

Natural skin oil is contrasted in Worbon culture with ceremonial oil, taken from animals and worn by key actors in religious ceremonies, or by would-be seductors in semi-codified courtship rituals. Skin oil is thus an apparent personal feature associated with everyday life.

Declination

The citation form for Worbon words is the ergative. There is no sg/pl opposition.

muntawa (ergative)

munta (absolutive)

muntar (essive)

muntame (genitive)

muntawac (instrumental/locative)

muntawõ (translative)

muntawi (ablative)

muntawar (locative/allative)

Example

kyemōttuwac muntawar bemāyyi this_night skin_oil.-ALL put_on-1p “this night we cover our skin oil => this night we put on ceremonial oil”

Etymology

Derived from mugo “naked skin” with the suffix -taw that forms inanimate nouns of byproducts. You’ll see the alternation of the -g of the root: voiced consonants have nasal allophones in syllable codas.

Derived words

muntakō, na: “married person; celibate by choice”

muntawite, ni: “grease spot”

muntawattī, na: “group of person outside ceremonies”

muntaskō, ni: “everyday cloths”

muntapuyo, na: “person too young to flirt”

[vilikemorgenthal]

Lexember #3 : ʒapyoz-

Conlang: Worbon

Worbon is a language spoken by isolated islanders: their nearest neighbours are 2000km far. It is currently on the way to a flexional phase, after a former morphological system bordering on polysynthetism. I never wrote about it here, so any questions there’s gonna be on inflexions and conjugations will be addressed in a future post... unless you happen to read French.

The word

ʒapyoz- /d‿za.pjoz/, vt:

To test, taste the texture, firmness of something (e.g. food)

To realize early something about someone

To have prejudices (positive or negative) at first sight against someone

To be wary of someone

Th Worbon language is a big user of the FEELINGS ARE TASTES AND ODORS metaphor. That explains the semantic drift of a tasting verb to one of personal relationships.

Etymology

From a verb pyoz- “to feel, taste (with tongue)”, and a verbal instrumental prefix ʒa- “tooth” (compare the free word ʒā). Verbal prefixes are the relics of older noun incorporation. It’s a closed class, giving the verbs locational, directional, and instrumental nuances.

Literally, “to taste with the teeth”.

Examples

Roridōnke ʒapyossuti tō meat-GEN toothtaste-NMLZ-ABL come-3.IND “She took a bit off the meat”

Ya ʒapyozyin DEM.ANIM-ABS toothtaste-1s-DEO “I must say there’s something off about them”

Wāsesī gorenḍẽ ʒapyozo mother-1s-ERG young-fisherman-ABS toothtaste-3 “My mother has prejudices against young fishermen”

Ya ʒapyozzin ! DEM.ANIM-ABS toothtaste-2s-DEO “Be wary of them!”

Inflection

I calculated that there are 72 possible conjugated forms. It would be a bit too much to present it here, wouldn’t it? Let it just be said that, as an active verb, it has all TAM inflections available.

Derived words

ʒapyoẓine, na: “feeler, one who can read people well; prejudiced person”

ʒapyostawa, ni: “first impression”

ʒapyoskō, na: “suspicious meal; suspicious person (patient)”

ʒapyozoko, ni: “food bit being tested”

Verbal nouns:

ʒapyozonto, ni: “testing (of food or character)”

ʒapyossuti, ni: “quick bit”

ʒapyozogo, ni: “prejudiced thought”