As I coin more words for ai Basata I'm discovering that I often coin words that I could have dervied from existing roots, so I'm setting up a more systematic derivational scheme to help me recognize when a word should be derived instead of coined from scratch.

Here are some samples for your amusement and comment:

Some sample ai Basata derivations:

Roots:

en = [root] in
od = [root] out
rad = [root] red
ur = [root] large, big

Prefixes:

ik- = [prefix] active from stative
ki- = [prefix} alternate form of ik- when root begins with consonant

Suffixes:

-a = noun
-e = adjective
-i = preposition/adverb
-o = verb

Transitive prepositions:

eni = [prep] in X, inside of X
odi = [prep] outside of X
ikeni = [prep] into X
ikodi = [prep] out-from X

Intransitive prepositions: (aka adverbs)

ikeni = [adv] inward (when used intrasitively) "We travelled inward until dawn."
ikodi = [adv] outward (when used intrasitively)

Adjectives:

ene = [adj] inside: the inside wall is plaster
ikene = [adj] incoming, inbound: The incoming mass is captured by the black hole.
ode = [adj] outside: the outside wall is brick
ikode = [adj] outgoing, outbound: The outgoing president waved goodbye.
rade = [adj] red: The sky is red.
kirade = [adj] reddening: "The reddening sky is beautiful."
ure = [adj] large, big
ikure [adj] growing, big-becoming

Verbs:

eno = [v] to be inside of X: "Ma eno mandira." "I am-inside-of (the) house."
(Can also be used intransitively: "Ma eno." "I am-inside."
ikeno = [v] to be entering into X: "Ma ikeno mandira." "I am-entering (the) house."
odo = [v] to be outside of X: "Ma odo mandira." "I am-outside-of (the) house."
(Can also be used intransitively: "Ma odo." "I am-outside."
ikodo = [v] to be exiting X: "Ma ikodo mandira." "I am-exiting (the) house."
rado = [v] to be red "Akasha rado." "(The) sky is-red."
kirado = [v] to become red "Akasha kirado." "(The) sky is-becoming-red."
uro = [v] to-be-big: "Mandira uro." "(The) house is-big."
ikuro = [v] to-be-growing, becoming-big: "Ai Johnny ikuro." "(name) Johnny is-growing."

There's not much for the copula to do when verbs can derived from adjectives and prepositions.

I'm working toward putting together a big chart of prefix/suffix combinations and how they apply to a root. Beside ik-/ki- there are prefixes for intensifiers, "more", "most", "extremely", "too", "little", "less", "insufficient", negatives like "non-" and "anti-", an so on. So far as many as 30 or 40 words can be derived from a single root with simple prefixes and suffixes. And that doesn't take compounded roots into consideration.

Thoughts?

--gary