Asking for advice on some words

[Jens]

Dear friends,

I’m sending this message to people who have expressed interest in Neo
Patwa language in the past (and I hope you still do have interest). In
the latest rendition of the language there are almost 400 words. I
have been thinking that some sounds are similar and that it’s best not
to have more than one word that would reduce to the same sound. So for
example, I think it would be best to avoid having both “kali” and
“gali,” as they could be easily confused. So I went through and found
that there are 16 words that should probably be changed. I’ll list
them here, and if people can make suggestions on what to change, I’ll
be happy to consider the suggestions. Here are the “pairs” (in one
case, there are four!)

cucu (uncle), cucu (grandchildren) – actually this one is a mistake,
they are exactly the same
cule (depart/from), coli (arm/hand)
kaki (write), kage (shadow)
kali (sharp), gali (expensive)
kasa (house), gasa (grass/hair)
kuli (work), kole (glue), kule (flow), goli (ball)
muta (bend), moda (manner)
papel (paper), babel (confusion)
pica (picture), peca (break)
bibi (aunt), bebi (baby)
sida (straight), seda (voice/sound)
tanda (cold), danta (teeth)
didi (brother), deti (dirty)
topi (hat), tobi (jump/fly)

I’ve sent this message to people who have contacted me in the past
about Neo Patwa, as well to some of the mailing lists. Feel free to
send suggestions to me personally, but also to use one of the mailing
lists.

Of course, you might not feel that this is even necessary. I'd be
happy to hear that opinion too.

Jens

[Dana Nutter]

Jens wrote:

> cucu (uncle), cucu (grandchildren) – actually this one is a mistake,
> they are exactly the same

Oops.

> cule (depart/from), coli (arm/hand)
> kaki (write), kage (shadow)

I don't see any problem here. These both seem distinct enough.

> kali (sharp), gali (expensive)
> kasa (house), gasa (grass/hair)

Not sure about the first pair, but I'd favor "kasa" on the second.

> kuli (work), kole (glue), kule (flow), goli (ball)

You seem to have a like of KxLI words. That should probably be
paired down. I'd say eliminate "goli" for "ball". "Goal" is know
worldwide by soccer fans. I wound up using "gol" to mean "goal,
target, intention".

> muta (bend), moda (manner)
> papel (paper), babel (confusion)

"papel" is good.

> pica (picture), peca (break)


> bibi (aunt), bebi (baby)

"bebi" is good.

> sida (straight), seda (voice/sound)

> tanda (cold), danta (teeth)

You could make "denta" instead of "danta".

> didi (brother), deti (dirty)
> topi (hat), tobi (jump/fly)

You could use something like "capo" instead of "topi".

[زين العابدين الحاسي‎]

I think these are good changes for a language with minimalism . We need this distinction.

I am still interested in Neo Patwa ,and I will continue to be interested ,because I think Neo Patwa is the best language with minimalism for me.

2009/11/17 Jens <jenswi...@gmail.com>

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[Lenadi]

Bonjour,

Quelques propositions de mots:
coli >>huka (origine slave)
kage>> anino (filipino)
gali >>ceho (france)
gasa>> muhu (estonia)
didi>> lalaki (malay, filipino)

Lenadi

[Jens Wilkinson]

Thanks to everybody for the suggestions. I have some lists from
several people, so I'll look them over and see what I can do.

Asante, tomo-saba. Nuwe-wan aca kalim, ta ke? Mi no sabe!

--
Jens Wilkinson
Neo Patwa (patwa.pbwiki.com)