30 June 2014

zero is zolo

zolo = zero (number) (noun, adjective) (some things Google found for "zolo": a common term; Zolo Grill is a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado serving Mexican and Southwestern food; Zolo winery of Argentina; Kushies Zolo baby toys; Zolo Technologies; Zolo is an obscure, quirky, underground music genre; an unusual last name; a rare first name; name of places in Nigeria, Congo, Togo and Burkina Faso)

Word derivation for "zero"
Basque = zero, Finnish = nolla
Miresua = zolo

This is a new word, not a revision.

The word zero doesn't occur in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking-glass.

26 June 2014

nine is dereksä (revisited)

dereksä = nine (number) (adjective) (some things Google found for "dereksa": a rare term; user names, sometimes as DerekSa; bad OCR of old text; a very rare first name; name of a village in Egypt)

Word derivation for "nine"
Basque = bederatzi, Finnish = yhdeksän
Miresua = dereksä

My previous Miresua conlang word for nine was erdenisä. The first two letters of the new word, de, are letters in common between the Basque and the Finnish words. The new word is 7 characters long, one character less than the shorter of the two source words, which is allowed under my word-building rules.

By the way, the Finnish word for nine, yhdeksän, is a compound that presumably meant something like "one before (ten)". One in Finnish is yksi.

The word nine occurs four times in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
However, she soon made out that she was in the pool of tears which she had wept when she was nine feet high.

22 June 2014

eight is kahetzi (revisited)

kahetzi = eight (number) (adjective) (some things Google found for "kahetzi": a nearly unique term; may mean or in the past meant something in Estonian; in Estonian similar kahetsus means regret, remorse, repent; similar Kafetzi is a rare last name; similar Kahetz is a very rare last name)

Word derivation for "eight"
Basque = zortzi, Finnish = kahdeksan
Miresua = kahetzi

My previous Miresua conlang word for eight was kasetzi. This is a small change.

By the way, the Finnish word for two is kaksi, and the word for eight, kahdeksan, presumably meant something like "two before (ten)".

The word eight can't be found in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but it occurs in Through the Looking-glass.
"She can't do Addition," the Red Queen interrupted. "Can you do Subtraction? Take nine from eight."

"Nine from eight I can't, you know," Alice replied very readily: "but--"

"She can't do Subtraction," said the White Queen.

18 June 2014

seven is sezpin (revisited)

sezpin = seven (number) (adjective) (some things Google found for "sezpin": a rare term; a very rare last name; name of a fictional sea in an online fantasy story; references to Sez Pin Code, where SEZ stands for Special Economic Zone in India and PIN stands for Postal Index Number; similar Sezin is the name of a place in Burma)

Word derivation for "seven"
Basque = zazpi, Finnish = seitsemän
Miresua = sezpin

My previous Miresua conlang word for seven was pesizan. The new word better resembles both the Basque word and the Finnish word.

Seven occurs a handful of times in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This is from the scene where three gardeners are painting white roses red.
..."Look out now, Five! Don't go splashing paint over me like that!"

"I couldn't help it," said Five, in a sulky tone; "Seven jogged my elbow."
This Miresua conlang word has been changed. The word for seven is now zasein.

14 June 2014

ten is kymar (revisited)

kymar = ten (number) (adjective) (some things Google found for "kymar": an uncommon to unusual term; KyMar Farm craft winery and distillery in New York state; Kymar Acres is a farm in Iowa; in Lone Wolf gamebooks Loi-Kymar is an elder of the Magician's Guild of Toran; Kymar Subsea of Houston sells subsea technology equipment; an unusual last name; a rare first name; Kymar ointment for veterinary use; similar Kumar is a South Asian name)

Word derivation for "ten"
Basque = hamar, Finnish = kymmenen
Miresua = kymar

My previous Miresua conlang word for ten was mykar. The new word doesn't scramble the letters as much.

The word ten occurs five times in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
...said Alice; "I can't remember things as I used -- and I don't keep the same size for ten minutes together!"
This Miresua conlang word has been changed. The word for ten is now hamen.

10 June 2014

six is sui (revisited)

sui = six (number) (adjective) (some things Google found for "sui": a very common term; Sui Dynasty of China (581-619 AD); sui generis is a Latin expression meaning "only example of its kind or unique"; an uncommon last name that can be Chinese, notably fashion designer Anna Sui; an uncommon first name that can be feminine; SUI is the NYSE stock symbol for Sun Communities Inc.; a SUI tax is for State Unemployment Insurance; means needle in Hindi (transliterated); means on the in Italian; means herself, itself, himself in Latin; name of a couple counties in China; name of places in Pakistan, India, Burkina Faso, Papua New Guinea, and Honduras)

Word derivation for "six"
Basque = sei, Finnish = kuusi
Miresua = sui

My previous Miresua conlang word for six was usei, which broke a couple of my self-imposed, word building rules. The word should start with a consonant, as both the Basque and Finnish words do. Also, the Miresua word shouldn't of contained the Basque word in its entirety.

The word six occurs twice in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, one of which was quoted in the previous post. It also occurs five times in Through the Looking-glass including the following bit.
Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one CAN'T believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast...."

06 June 2014

four is nelu (revisited)

nelu = four (number) (adjective) (some things Google found for "nelu": a common term; a unusual to uncommon masculine first name that can be Romanian; an unusual last name; Nelu Adikari is a female Sri Lankan singer; the nelu flowers of Sri Lanka bloom once in 12-14 years; Uma Nelu is a place in Nigeria; name of a places in France and Indonesia)

Word derivation for "four"
Basque = lau, Finnish = neljä
Miresua = nelu

My previous Miresua conlang word for four was lunja. I'm changing this word partly because the NJ consonant combination is rare in Finnish.

The word four occurs a handful of times in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!

02 June 2014

three is hirme (revisited)

hirme = three (number) (adjective) (some things Google found for "hirme": a uncommon term; a rare first name possibly a form of Hiram; a very rare last name; Hirme Washing Machines of Watford in the UK; in Spanish similar irme means go, leave; similar hirm means fear in Estonian; Al Hirme is a village in Syria)

Word derivation for "three" :
Basque = hiru, Finnish = kolme
Miresua = hirme

My previous Miresua word for three was herko. I'm starting a round of revisions of numbers.

The word three occurs many times in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
"Well, I should like to be a LITTLE larger, sir, if you wouldn't mind," said Alice: "three inches is such a wretched height to be."

"It is a very good height indeed!" said the Caterpillar angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke (it was exactly three inches high).
This Miresua conlang word has been changed. The word for three is now kire.