Monday, February 20, 2012

Wanderings III: Semantics a

Much as I have tried to avoid this, I can't much longer (though I can still put off actually picking words for a while).  So, first, what kind of culture is this a language for?  Since we are working on the ancestral language for now, we can assume at least a medieval culture and probably better a BCE one: rural, low mobility, small community, poor (not quite toki pona's Daoist village, but close).  What is there there then?
1. people, children, elders, friends, enemies, neighbors, aliens, relatives (3 or 4 generations, viewed from several directions, and extending outward from the top.  Maybe much more for genealogists), spouses, in-laws, leaders, healers, spiritual practitioners, genealogist, experts.   male and female (not equal linguistically).  village, tribe, clan, family, nuclear family
2. critters: food animals, other produce animals, working animals (not mutually exclusive, of course), house animals. vermin, dangerous animals, pests, mythic critters.  What goes into each category depends on where we locate this language.  fish, birds, amusing small things, game
3. major crops (we are at least in the sedentary agricultural stage), kitchen crops, wild crops. trees and shrubs, fruits and nuts, herds, pretty things.
4.House, fire, hearth, bed, blankets, headrest, smoke hole, door, window (?), cooking pots and utensils (maybe eating, too), fuel, clothing (many items, different for different sorts), footwear (?), latrines, knives. garbage dumps (?)
5. Wealth: flocks, money (?), land holdings, rent, taxes (or in kind service), lending and usury, bribes/administrative fees
6 War, soldier, weapons (swords, spears, bow and arrow, hammer, having tools, sticks and poles and rocks), rape, pillage, massacre, hunt, poach, steal, buy/bargain, shop, sales person, craftsmen (maker of stuff, anyhow)
7.Physical features: mountains, hills, mounds, fields, plains, lakes, rivers, forests, deserts, mud. rain, snow, storm, thunder, lightning, clouds, sun, moon, stars, comets and other weird stuff, roads, passes, paths, fords, boats and the like and their parts and implements, winds (direction, temperature, force), soil, dirt, dust, sand, rocks and stones, ore, metal, mine, smelter (maybe not for everyone, but we are up to at least the bronze age)
8. carpenter and tools, tinker and tools, sewer and tools, butcher and tools (maybe not specialties yet, but something that someone does from time to time) and materials, mason and tools. herdsman and tools,  farmer and tools, forager and tools  (fisherman and tools, sailor and tools -- at least boatman) weaver and tools,
9. Gods, ancestors, ghosts, local spirits, intrusive spirits and folks to deal with them.

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