30 June 2008

sapphire is sovira

sovira = sapphire (noun) (gemstone) (some things Google found for "sovira": an uncommon to rare term; a last name; a first name; Sovira (or Souveera) was an ancient tribe and territory in Northern India which is in present day Sindh province of Pakistan)

Word derivation for "sapphire" :
Basque = zafiro, Finnish = safiiri
Miresua = sovira

Both the Basque word and the Finnish word contain a "f". It's likely that "sapphire" was a borrowed word in both languages. I modified the "f" to a "v" for Miresua.

This Miresua conlang word has been changed. The word for "sapphire" is now "sovari".

26 June 2008

ruby is riburi

ribuririburi = ruby (noun) (gemstone) (some things Google found for "riburi": a rare term; may mean something in Japanese; a user name; a short story titled "The Riburi Hat" was published in 1984 in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine; may mean something in Romanian)

Word derivation for "ruby" :
Basque = errubi, Finnish = rubiini
Miresua = riburi

The Basque and Finnish words for "ruby" are similiar. To make the Miresua word a little different I changed "rubi", the common letter combination, to "ribu".

22 June 2008

emerald is adirasme

adirasme = emerald (noun) (gemstone) (some things Google found for "adirasme": a nearly unique term; appears on a Spanish language page, but it is almost certainly a misspelling or a fractured text of something else; similar word "adiras" means "you adhere" in Portuguese)

Word derivation for "emerald" :
Basque = esmeralda, Finnish = smaragdi
Miresua = adirasme

The Basque word for emerald has nine letters, the Finnish word has eight letters. These words apparently share a common root, given their similarity and that they have six letters in common. In making my Miresua word I shuffled the letters, deliberately reversing the placement of letters.

This Miresua conlang word has been changed. The word for "emerald" is now "esamardi".

18 June 2008

ass is irpe

irpeirpe = ass (noun, profanity) (some things Google found for "irpe": an uncommon term; IRPE stands for Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence; IRPE Prize (International Recognition of Professional Excellence) honors young ecologists; at Troy University IRPE stands for Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness; user names; Irpe Spa company of Italy; obsolete English word meaning "a fantastic grimace or contortion of the body")

Word derivation for "ass" (or "arse") :
Basque = ipurdi, Finnish = perse
Miresua = irpe

As in English, this word can be used as a profane term for the buttocks or a mild swearword.

Usually I like to make my Miresua words the average length of the Basque and Finnish words. This word is a letter shorter, but that is within my allowable range. At four letters, it's an even alphabetic mixture -- it contains the two common letters (p and r) and a vowel from each the Basque and the Finnish words.

14 June 2008

hell is vertuni

vertunivertuni = hell (noun) (some things Google found for "vertuni": a rare term; an unusual last name, or perhaps a misspelling of Italian name Vertunni; On EVE online game universe Vertuni Logistics Fleet Support is a corporation; similarly named "Ventuny" is a town in Ukraine)

Word derivation for "hell" :
Basque = infernu, Finnish = helvetti
Miresua = vertuni

The Finnish word "helvetti" is apparently the mildest of the "Big Five" Finnish curse words. It even starts like the English word "hell".

The Basque word looks like the English word "infernal", which is derived from Latin. Basque is a language peculiarly lacking in swearwords, but you can be told to go to this "not nice" place.

Notice that the Basque word contains a "f". This is the first "f" I've encountered in building Miresua words! The letter "f" is rarely used in Basque, and not used in Finnish, except for in loan words. I eliminated "f" from my Miresua conlang because Finnish uses the letter "v". In English "f" and "v" are similar in pronunciation, both are what is called labiodental fricatives.

10 June 2008

devil is peraulo

peraulo = devil (noun) (some things Google found for "peraulo": a very rare term; an uncommon last name; means something in Italian or a language spoken in Languedoc; bad OCR or misspelling of Latin word "peracto" which means "to carry through, complete, or accomplish")

Word derivation for "devil" :
Basque = deabru, Finnish = paholainen (paholai)
Miresua = peraulo

Finnish has a several words for devil. This word, paholainen, is the most proper and least profane word.

When this word is used as a swearword in Miresua, it'll be a mild one. Such as in "What the devil?".

This Miresua conlang word has been changed. The word for devil is now depahun.

06 June 2008

shit is kaspa

kaspakaspa = shit (noun, profanity) (some things Google found for "kaspa": an uncommon term; user names; musician Kaspa da Ghost; a last name or part of a last name; Kaspa Transmissions of New Zealand; KASPA commercial refrigeration of Bulgaria; a first name that can be feminine from India; KASPA stands for Kansas Association of School Personnel Administrators; means "excessively, to surpass" in Ainu which is a nearly-extinct language of Japan; means "bad" in fictional language Cipsa; means "corn cob" in Quechua which is a major Native American language of the Andes region of South America; places in Nepal and Russia)

Word derivation for "shit" (crap) :
Basque = kaka, Finnish = paska
Miresua = kaspa

I think my conlang needs some swearwords. Finnish is a language that truly excels in cursing, and Basque is a language almost lacking in swearwords. This Basque word is obviously borrowed from the Spanish word "caca".

This word will be used as it is in English, a mild swearword that can be mean "crap" or "shoddy" or "broken". Basque and Finnish seem to use their words this way too.

02 June 2008

soldier is sodalti

sodaltisodalti = soldier (noun) (some things Google found for "sodalti": a rare term; an unusual last name; there's a Villa Sodalti in Buenos Aires; similar word "sodalitas" means "fellowship, association, companionship, secret society" in Latin)

Word derivation for "soldier" :
Basque = soldadu, Finnish = sotilas
Miresua = sodalti

I started my Miresua word with "so" because both the Basque and Finnish words for "soldier" (and the English!) start that way. According to Wikipedia, the English word "soldier" is derived from the Latin "solidarius" which means someone who served in the armed forces for pay.