Hello! I usually coin words by trying to clear my mind and then think
of a string of sounds that fits with the concept I'm trying to put a
word on, and then I make that string shorter most of the time (it's
usually several syllables long) and then I make sure it fits the
phonology the way it should, edit it a little if it doesn't and then
I'm "done". When I'm just making a naming language I usually make a
list of 1000 random roots using awkwards and then assign meanings to
them as I need them.
I personally don't advocate the swadesh list, since it doesn't contain
important words so much as words resistant to change.

On 1/29/12, Петр Рихардович Кларк <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> On Sunday, 29 January, 2012 09:20:45 you wrote:
>> My name is J. M. DeSantis, and I am a writer and an illustrator of
>> (typically) fantasy and horror.
> 	Welcome aboard!
>
>> 1. The creation of words.
> 	First, have you decided on a phonological system? That is, what sounds
> are allowed, what aren't? If not, this must be the first step. Since you're
> developing proto-naming-languages, you can give yourself a jump-start with a
> random phonology generator at http://000024.org/cgi-bin/gleb.cgi, which was
> developed by Alex Fink, another member of the list. It even will create some
> random words for you.
> 	George has already suggested awkwords (old site:
> http://bprhad.wz.cz/awkwords, new site http://awkwords.wsr3.net, although
> this
> isn't working for me at the moment) as one way of generating vocabulary.
> Certainly, nothing beats a random word generator for speed, however, I've
> always found it a bit...impersonal. My preferred way is something more
> similar
> to glossolalia; I sing. For best effect, I put words to orchestral music to
> avoid any prior associations with words to songs; it's like creating operas
> from symphonies. But for this method to work, you really need to have
> imbibed
> your phonological system so that you don't end up getting stuck in your
> native
> language's ruts.
> 	Finally, there's the step of assigning meaning to words. For developing
> naming languages, it's helpful to start with a list of words that can be
> reasonably expected to be found in a language. The Swadesh word list has 200
> "basic" words and is a good place to start; there are longer lists, but
> right
> now I can't find them; perhaps someone else on the list can do so.
>
>> 2. Directly related, I've heard it said both ways: Which is the
>> preferable method? Create verbs from nouns and adjectives from verbs? Or
>> create both nouns and adjectives from verbs?
> 	I don't think there is a preferred way, you can certainly do both at the
> same time. Natlangs certainly do, although depending on the language, they
> may
> have a preference for one or the other.
> 	:Peter
>

-- 
Sent from my mobile device