Formation of "Complex" Words
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General concepts used in forming less common "complex" words derived from "basic" common terms
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 26 Jun 2017, 10:22.
[comments] oso Generally speaking, there is a sub-category of words in Oishio that are considered basic. They may not actually be especially simple, but are much more common terms than others, even within close categories. For instance, lē ailēoi "arm" is basic, while lēḋ ailēioḋia "elbow" is not. "Elbow" is actually a semi-compound of the nouns arm and point, which makes it of another sub-category considered complex.
I use the term semi-compound because compounding words often does not follow a strict set of rules. In this case, ailēoi's final syllable and ioḋia's first syllable do not match up, so simply combining them is not possible. However, the diphthongs in question do share the same constituent vowels (i and o), so they can still be combined, where the order is chosen to mimic ioḋia based on the fact that a vowel still remains from ailēoi. Thus, ailēioḋia.
The two simplest and most regular forms of compounding occur when the junction of the two words share the same diphthong, or when there are two vowels. An example of the first: ūoitūau "swim" and augēkāia "language". These two would easily compound into ūoitūaugēkāia, lit. "swim language" (the general word used to refer to languages of various aquatic races). An example of the second: iagī "grey" and ōfuoā "eye". The two single vowels become a diphthong, thus iagiofuoā, lit. "grey eye" (a non-specific term for an eye that has suffered the effects of cataracts or similar diseases).
A challenge arises in cases such as the compound of uarueā tree and ōdaiē test (noun). The two single vowels would seem to become a diphthong, thus uarueaodaiē. However, this is incorrect, because two diphthongs (ue and ao) can never follow one another. There are two solutions to this predicament. One is to put the silent letter h between the two words, thus uarueāhōdaiē. The resulting āhō is pronounced as the diphthong ao, but somewhat like a long vowel (essentially making both a and o long in succession). Although correct, the sound of it my confuse native speakers, who would think the two words were thrown together with no regard for grammar or common sense. The more common solution is to use the glottal stop ĥ between the two words. Thus, the compound becomes uarueā'ōdaiē, pronounced /uɑɾuɛɑ:ʔo:dɑiɛ:/.
In fact, the use of a glottal stop is correct no matter what words one wishes to compound. Even where another form is shorter and much more common, one could still be understood by this method. It is useful for any non-native speaker, beginner to advanced, as the speaker can easily make any compound word even when they do not know the common form.
(General note: ĥ is used as a standalone representation of the glottal stop ʔ, while an apostrophe ' is used mid-word) ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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