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Checklists

Core vocabulary checklist

The core vocabulary should be a limited set of words on which a wider language lexicon is been built. The basic premise is that there should be a reasonably short list of words to learn and memorize. Obviously there is a balance to strike between expressivity and size. The core language should be abstract and ambiguous. The language assumes a context that would clarify some ambiguity (for instance on Earth the time unit may be second).

Words are organized in sequence of up to 12 words.

Checklist for a sequence of 12 words:

  • The sequence should be thematic.
  • The order of these words is coherent, and follow one of these patterns:
    • Incremental: the first word is related to 0 or 1 and the last word to 11 or 12.
    • Alphabetic order of the sequence words.
    • A list of pairs (ex: uneasy easy), where the two parts of the pair are antonyms. The first word of the pair should represent negative (0) aspect while second word the positive (1) aspect. Whenever possible the second word (positive) should be used to sort the tuples alphabetically. (negative words often starts with same prefix and make them a bad fit for sorting).
  • The sequence is reasonably easy to remember.
  • The sequence helps to narrow down a meaning.

Checklist for a word in the core vocabulary:

  • The word is abstract enough.
  • The word is not specific to Earth and would be relevant for most planets. For example, not every planet would have tigers or Japan, but they could have mammals and countries.
  • The word is useful for adding meaning to other words the same way a prefix or suffix in English would be.
  • The word is a known mathematical, physical, computing concept that would always be relevant.
  • The word could be poetically used for similar concepts in different fields.
  • Synonyms in the core vocabulary should be avoided unless they play a role in a sequence.
  • The word should be frequently used in the resulting language. A niche word should be discarded if it could be easily replaced by another word or combination of words in the core vocabulary.
  • The word does not have a more common synonym.