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A community for the dragon language of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Thuum.org

A community for the dragon language of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Table of Possible Monosyllabic Words

 1 

Frinmulaar
February 22, 2015

The file can be seen here, and its story is below.

I share the view with many members that our version of Dovahzul should stay true to its canon roots. Most of our words are compounds of existing material. Compounding is a core mechanism in Dovahzul, and a large part of what makes the language unique.

However, the compound-heaviness of our vocabulary makes me worry that we might run out of simple basic words, resulting in repetitive and unwieldy compounds. The rich phonetic inventory of Dovahzul can support a great number of short words, but our current dictionary barely covers a tenth of the possibilities.

Which is why I made this list. If you are looking for ideas for a non-canon word, I hope it can help. For convenience, words already defined are in brackets. (Thanks to paarthurnax for pointing me in the direction of the Excel dictionary.)

Edit 15/02/23: changed link to point to printable version.

by Frinmulaar
February 22, 2015

The file can be seen here, and its story is below.

I share the view with many members that our version of Dovahzul should stay true to its canon roots. Most of our words are compounds of existing material. Compounding is a core mechanism in Dovahzul, and a large part of what makes the language unique.

However, the compound-heaviness of our vocabulary makes me worry that we might run out of simple basic words, resulting in repetitive and unwieldy compounds. The rich phonetic inventory of Dovahzul can support a great number of short words, but our current dictionary barely covers a tenth of the possibilities.

Which is why I made this list. If you are looking for ideas for a non-canon word, I hope it can help. For convenience, words already defined are in brackets. (Thanks to paarthurnax for pointing me in the direction of the Excel dictionary.)

Edit 15/02/23: changed link to point to printable version.


paarthurnax
Administrator
February 22, 2015

Thanks for putting this list together! There are indeed a huge number of possible one-syllable words that can still be made.

A problem I see with this list from a practical perspective is that, since it's computer-generated, the vast majority of words are atypical for Dovahzul, such as ahshbahntosh, and klahlz.

If you're looking to make a one-syllable word, consider taking an existing word and changing one letter. Hypothetical examples include votzaathulfol, or spaar. This method helps you to arrive at a one-syllable word that still fits the conventions of the language.

by paarthurnax
February 22, 2015

Thanks for putting this list together! There are indeed a huge number of possible one-syllable words that can still be made.

A problem I see with this list from a practical perspective is that, since it's computer-generated, the vast majority of words are atypical for Dovahzul, such as ahshbahntosh, and klahlz.

If you're looking to make a one-syllable word, consider taking an existing word and changing one letter. Hypothetical examples include votzaathulfol, or spaar. This method helps you to arrive at a one-syllable word that still fits the conventions of the language.


Frinmulaar
February 22, 2015

@paarthurnax: Very true. Such words are a necessary consequence of a listing method that doesn't demand hours of subjective judging. Another way would have been deriving an extensive rule set of possible and impossible combinations, which I considered needlessly complicated. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the submitter to decide what fits. Changing one letter is probably a good middle of the road (though it's about as unnatural as you can get...)

Another troubling canon formation was geh, as the final h appears nowhere else. In the end, I decided to exclude it.

by Frinmulaar
February 22, 2015

@paarthurnax: Very true. Such words are a necessary consequence of a listing method that doesn't demand hours of subjective judging. Another way would have been deriving an extensive rule set of possible and impossible combinations, which I considered needlessly complicated. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the submitter to decide what fits. Changing one letter is probably a good middle of the road (though it's about as unnatural as you can get...)

Another troubling canon formation was geh, as the final h appears nowhere else. In the end, I decided to exclude it.


paarthurnax
Administrator
February 22, 2015

Neh "never" is the only other word like that. It's fairly rare.

by paarthurnax
February 22, 2015

Neh "never" is the only other word like that. It's fairly rare.

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