(expanding the Vulcan language lexicon)
• Vulcan is a compound language in which words are built from other, earlier words or phonemes (word parts) for the most part. Where there has been no preexisting word, I have tended to create new words and built even more new words out of them. This is a reiterative process.
• Languages are primarily spoken and they grow and change based on the way people speak. Euphony and brevity are paramount when communicating. When a word begins to become too long, clumsy, or difficult to easily use in conversation, the word WILL be modified or truncated to fit the convenience of the speakers. I presume that many if not all affixes once existed as stand-alone words that have been snipped to attach to other words for this very reason.
• Few languages have just one word for any given concept or shade of meaning. Selek has tended to consolidate disparate words and concepts into a single root. I have tried to pull several of them out of that process to make the language more realistic and vital.
• Languages are messy. Yes, Surak and his followers tried to systematize Golic Vulcan. But they never finished and that was 1,500 years ago. So...
• Languages change over time. As I proceed I will continually look for ways to express the way ALL languages, even Vulcan, progress, change, and naturally evolve.
(affix)
high, higher, superior
(noun)
altruism, the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others (Lit: high-kindness)(see: rihklekh) (Note: replaces vathu-tunan, another word with no antecedents or associations.)
(adverb)
upward, movement from a lower point to a higher point
(noun)
fortune, chance or luck as it affects a person’s or group’s affairs (see also: kha’)
(verb)
to lick, to pass the tongue over
(noun)
lick, the act of licking something with the tongue
(exclamation)
similar to ah!, or oh!, a word used to express satisfaction or appreciation. A Vulcan would not likely say such a thing to, or in the presence of, a stranger or casual acquaintance. Instead, they would incline the head, raise an eyebrow, and say something like, “Sh’dho,” (“indeed”), or just say nothing. But to a close family member, child, or a lover, they would readily indicate satisfaction or appreciation with a gentle, “Aneh.”
(noun)
midday, the part of the day when the sun is reaching its highest point in the sky. The last hour of the morning. Typically when Vulcans eat their day meal (khi-gad-yem), before the sukh-ahn (q.v.) and the heat of the afternoon. (Lit: morning’s end)
ash'irak
(adverb)
very high (Lit: raise-distant). A word used to describe climbing, flying, or spaceflight that is high or distant. A more literal translation might be "to go very far," though this would not be used to describe a land journey. This word is used more often to describe warp travel. "Ash'irak-halovayau p'vohk-etek kup'lasha na'Terra." (We must travel very high to arrive at Earth.) Lit: Very'high-travel must-we to be able to-arrive at'Earth.
(verb)
to rely on luck, fortune, or chance. To gamble. (Lit: by means of luck)(Note: Vulcans do not, typically, gamble or rely on luck, but they do take chances when to do so is logical or unavoidable, when rational assessments of probability fail -- or there is not enough data to make any -- but when action must be taken, regardless. "Na'hal-tor etek lu'vra'olozhika baikhau," (When logic fails, we proceed with luck.") (Lit: "Proceed we when-fails-logic by means of luck.") Note: It is, perhaps, more accurate to state that FSE has no word equivalent to Kha, and to call it luck is to attach an unwarranted cultural association. Kha, might be taken to mean, "without logic." (see: discussion at kha')
(adjective)
visual, of or relating to vision or sight (see: lak)
baiyor
(verb)
to rely, to place trust in or depend upon
(verb)
to rush or hurry, to perform an act with greater than normal speed
(noun)
rush, a sudden, quick movement
(noun)
deed, an action performed intentionally or with purpose. (Note for a legal document assigning ownership, see: ki’mat.)
(noun)
tome, a book that is held in some regard. More than just a book. When a given work is widely respected and read, it is no longer called a dunap, and becomes a dun’ek.
(noun)
dictionary (alternative/replacement for zhit-dunap, which is clumsy and overly prosaic), lit: volume of all-words-gathered
(noun)
term, a word or phrase used to describe a thing or to express a concept, especially in a given branch of study.
(verb)
to suck, to draw in via a pressure gradient
(noun)
suck, the act of sucking
(noun)
a nineday, equivalent to a week in FSE. The passage of nine Vulcan days (the time it takes T’Khut to make one circuit through the sky). (Note: Some references suggest that T’khut is tidally locked and, therefore, visible from only one hemisphere of Vulcan. However, histories clearly describe T’Khut as rising. Clearly, it orbits Vulcan.) (Cultural note: Vulcans revere the numbers nine, three, and infinity. Three, the square root of nine (three threes), creates the sides of a triangle, an inherently stable shape. Combined with the infinite circle, a shape that has no beginning or end, the triangle and circle become the IDIC.)
(noun)
task, a work to be done
(noun)
lexicon, the words associated with a language, branch of knowledge, etc. (Lit: A work of words)
(affix)
indicating heated or hot
(noun)
the day pause. Typically around the start of the third hour of the afternoon, when the day is hottest, most Vulcans take time to rest, meditate, and have a light afternoon meal. Something of a cross between siesta and afternoon tea.
(noun)
journey, the act or process of travelling from one place to another (lit: the movement of a day)
(verb)
to journey, to travel from one place to another
(noun)
end of the day, late afternoon. The last hour of the daylight, when Vulcans begin to close their offices and plan to return home for the evening and night.
(adjective)
visible, able to been seen (lit: see-able) (and here we see that both gal-tor and lak come from the same, pre-Surakian, root. This word was once lak-ku, but words change over time.)
(noun)
dark hour, the hours of the night. In ancient times, the hours between sunset and dawn were counted as twice as long as those during daylight. This is no longer true, but the convention remains. (See: mu’v’hral and kaur-v’hral)
(noun)
present participle
(affix)
implying negation, ~un, e.g. kupRIK, UNable. ’rik is used when ’ik would result in a difficult or awkward pronunciation.
(verb)
to respect, to admire someone or something based on their abilities, qualities, or achievements
(noun)
respect, a sense of admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements
kehr-v’hral
The fourth hour, the hour, in the middle of the night which contained the mu-v’hral, the dark hour, the uncounted hour. Thus, the fourth hour was twice as long as the others, divided by the dark, uncounted hour right in the middle. The fourth hour would continue after the dark hour ended as if nothing had happened, clocks would be restarted, etc. When a task is long and boring, it is often referred to as taking the fourth hour (taking twice as long as it might). A clumsy or dull individual is often described as being born in the fourth hour, “pukeshta na’kehr-v’hral.” Sometimes, when something is particularly bad or unfortunate, it will be referred to as being born in, or coming from the fourth hour, “Pukeshta dotor-veh na’kehr-v’hral,” (“This plan was born in the fourth hour.” Lit: Born plan-this in’fourth-hour)
(adjective)
understandable, able to be understood
(affix, noun)
denoting luck or fortune (Note: Vulcans do not believe in luck. However they do acknowledge that not every circumstance can be defined by raw statistical probability. Sometimes the dice do fall in ways that cannot easily be explained purely by logic or pattern analysis. They acknowledge this improbablistic reality via the term kha. It might be more accurate to acknowledge that FSE has no words genuinely equivalent to kha, so luck is applied, instead. Kha, might be taken to mean, "without logic." Again, the meaning is imprecise.)
(noun)
directive, an official instruction (see khartau, to direct)
(noun)
document of possession, a deed. (Lit: To have possession)
(noun)
document of directives. Vulcan equivalent to the FSE word “will,” a document describing a person’s wishes for their possessions after their death
(noun)
participle, a word formed from a verb and used as an adjective
(verb)
to assist, to help or assume partial responsibility for the completion of a task (Note: this is another instance of assigning a neologism to an existing word when the author of the VLD has tried to assign too many meanings to a single word. In this case, gol-tor, to help. However, I have not taken it too far afield, merely changing the form of the verb (weak regular verb to strong irregular) and the initial letter; kol is not very different from gol.)
(noun)
assistance, the action of or assumption of partial responsibility for the completion of a task
(noun)
acolyte, an assistant at a ritual, typically a sworn member of a cult or society. An honorable assistant, (note ~osu). (Replaces gol’nevsu when referring to acolytes, but not regular “helpers.”)
(noun)
assistant, one who assists. A bit more respectable than being a mere helper.
(adverb)
kind, having or showing a compassionate, friendly, or considerate nature (lit: with kind)
(affix)
~able, ~ible adjective-forming suffix, (e.g. kenKU, understandABLE, etc.)(Note: alternate to ~yehat. This is one of those cases where it seems there was an intention to change yehat to ku, but Surak died before the process was completed. Generally ~yehat is applied to very old words, ~ku is applied to relatively newer words, though this is not entirely consistent throughout the lexicon. Languages are, and should be a bit messy.)
(expression)
lit. “a little able,” some, a bit. Employed to indicated a slight or limited ability. (e.g. Q: Stariben odu Vulkhansu ha. (“Do you speak Vulcan?”), A: “Ha, ku’pi.” (“Yes, a bit.”)
(verb)
can, to be able to (modified definition) (NOT to place into a metal container, see mokau, to can)
(noun)
ability, possessing the capacity or means to do something (lit: can-ness)
(adjective)
unable, lacking the capacity or ability
(noun)
sight, the faculty or power of seeing. This is here for two reasons: First, too many seeing-related words in the VLD are just variations of gla-tor and no language is that repetitive or rigidly prescriptive (and, no, I don’t buy the, “these are Vulcans and they are inflexible, perfectly logical, and feel nothing, like robots,” argument) and, second, the existence of “shan’hal’lak,” (love at first sight), which would break down as a contraction of love-??-“sight” (hal does not exist in the VLD). There are five phonemes which suggest first in the VLD: kalk, wu-rakh, nen, ner, and tal. So, we can assume that, originally, the phrase was closer to, ashan’tal’lak. This is a good thing because it gives us opportunity to expand words relating to sight with the word or affix lak. Lak should replace glan in the VLD for the word, sight.
(affix)
of or relating to sight or seeing
(noun)
vision, the faculty or ability of seeing or sight (lit: sight-ness)
(noun)
warmth (lit: warm-ness)
(noun)
warm tea. A common drink for the gad’svih (q.v.); a mildly bitter herb and berry tea which is drunk at just above room temperature, neither hot nor cold. Typically, the tea is prepared as part of breakfast and left to steep in the sun for the seven or so hours between breakfast and the gad’svih. (Pronunciation note: lom-THER’ss, the TH sound is hard, made with a sharp posterior movement of the tongue, almost a simple T sound, but more aspirated, not soft as in “three.” In FSE it rhymes with “bomb terse.”)
(noun)
officer, generic term for a person holding an office
(phrase)
infinitely tranquil face. The face one turns to the world when one has achieved Kohlinar. Expressionless, wise, and calm, lacking all emotion. (Note: even those who have not yet achieved Kholinar, strive to present this face in the presence of other races and cultures. It is a matter of cultural pride, an emotion. Vulcans do not lack emotions, they merely learn to control them with an iron will.) (Pronunciation note: lee-mook va-ZZHess. The zzh sound is similar to a j and a z combined, je combined with the “su” sound found in pleasure. FSE speakers might hear leemook vaJESS.)
lu'
(affix)
when, at the time of
(verb)
to can, to place or seal into a can (replaces kup q.v.)
(noun)
cannery, a place where canned goods are manufactured
(noun)
midnight (the dark pause). The pause in time at the middle of the night which, in ancient times, was observed as a period of one, un-counted, hour before the night continued towards dawn. Thus, the night actually consisted of ten hours, but the mid-most, starting at 4.5 hours after sunset, and continuing at 5.5 hours after sunset, was not counted, or acknowledged, and even clocks were stopped. This practice is no longer observed, but it remains part of the Vulcan cultural heritage. See: kaur-v’hral, the fifth hour.
(noun)
the dark hour. The hour of mu-svi (q.v.). No promises were made, no food eaten, no plans made, no documents signed, or tasks started during the dark hour. It was a time of quiet, often fearful meditation, when one’s life and deeds were weighed and one’s future prospects were assessed. A child born in the dark hour was considered unfortunate or unlucky. The dark hour is no longer observed -- the day and night are each nine uninterrupted hours -- but many Vulcans still wake and meditate for half an hour or so in the middle of the night as a way to prepare for the morning.
na'hal-tor
(verb)
to proceed, to begin or continue a course of action
na'vohkau
(verb)
to insist, to demand.
(expression)
“oh, yes,” a brief expression of agreement or appreciation. Like aneh, never used but among intimates. To a stranger or casual acquaintance, a Vulcan would simply say, “Ha,” (yes) or “Sh’dho,” (indeed).
(adverb)
downward, movement away from a high point towards a lower point
(verb)
to satisfy, fulfil a desire or need
(noun)
satisfaction, fulfillment of one’s needs or desires
(adjective)
shiny, having the property of reflecting or giving off light.
(noun)
shine, the property of reflecting or giving off light
(verb)
to shine, to reflect or give off light
(verb)
to smile, form one’s features into a pleased, kind, or amused expression. (The existing word, abru’teruklar-ru’lut, literally “mouth-corners-up,” is inane. Vulcans feel emotion, they even smile. They do not wander around looking at other species wondering what those odd upturned corners of the mouth things are and making a clumsy, purely descriptive word out of this thing they have never seen before and cannot comprehend.)
(noun)
smile, a pleased, kind, or amused expression.
auspicious (lit: honorable good)
fortune (lit. honorable benefit-ness)
pa’zham
(noun)
still, deep silence and calm (e.g., pa’zham t’mu-yor, the still of the night). Here we can see where the name of the ancient monastery, pa'zhem, comes from.
(adjective)
still, not moving or making a sound. Undisturbed.
(noun)
short hour, the hours of daylight. (see: gu’v’hral, dark hours). In ancient times, the Vulcan day was divided into three portions, two in the day (equivalent to morning and afternoon, divided by the sword stroke, sukh’ahn), and one for the night. Each portion was divided into nine hours. Thus, the hours of the night were twice as long as the hours of the day. In contemporary times, the day consists of 18 hours, half at night and half during the day, but the verbal distinction remains. If you are speaking of an hour during the daylight, you use the term, pen’v’hral, at night, gu’v’hral (q.v.).
(noun)
moment, a brief, nonspecific period of time (lit: small-time)
(verb)
must, to be compelled to. "P'vohk t'du-uh" (You must!) Often, simply, "P'vohk."
(adverbial phrase)
“not now” response to an interruption, request ions, rather curtly, to be left alone.
(affix/suffix)
~un, indicating an opposition or negation, e.g. kuprik, “unable”
(noun)
concern, a matter of interest or importance
(phrase)
good luck, good fortune. Again, Vulcans do not believe in luck, but they acknowledge its conditional existence. They do not often wish someone good luck but, when they do, they mean it (the venture is likely doomed).
(affix)
an honorific variant of ~su, person or one, meaning “respected person.” So, while an everyday earthling would be Terrasu (Terran person), an ambassador or ship’s captain, etc. would be a Terrasa (respected Terran person). Note the name of the Vulcan sun, Nevassa, means “respected shining one.”
(verb)
spit, to expel liquid under pressure
(affix)
~suit, suffix indicating a set of clothing designed or suited for a given task (e.g stukh-saikhut, spacesuit).
(adjective)
pleasant, giving a sense of satisfaction or enjoyment
(phrase)
“please do,” casual response to a request; e.g. Q: “Sos’sartau nash-veh k’du.” (“May I join you?”) A: Sa-than.” (“Please do.”) In more formal circumstances one would reply with “Odu lo’uk’dor-tor n’nash-veh.” (“You honor me greatly.” Lit: You, greatly-honor (object marker) this one.” Note the placement of “you” in the honorific leading position with the honor modifier, o-. In less formal circumstances, the verb, dor-tor, would lead.)
(verb)
to agree, to conform to the same opinion or condition. To concur.
(adjective)
broken (lit: break-ness)
(adverb)
indeed, (adverb) an affirmation or agreement
(verb)
to relax
(adjective)
pronounceable, capable of being spoken
(adjective)
unpronounceable, incapable of being spoken
sukh
(verb)
Raise high, In reference to the highest point an person or thing can reach. "Sukh on-kar t'du-uh" ("Raise your arms high.") Lit: Raise high both-arms of you (imperative). Note: this word probably derives from the same root as stukh, outer space, the highest one may go. Other words with similar meanings, ashenau (raise), pid (high), irak-sfek (apogee or distant-point) have different derivations. One wonders, however if ash'irak (raise-distant) might not, over time evolve into something like sukh.
(noun)
Noon, the point in the day when the sun is highest in the sky (the sword raised high)
(noun)
The part of the day or night when T’khut is at its zenith in the sky
(expression)
dearest, an expression of affection. Derived from tal-kam-dam (dear~est), simply because the complete phrase is cumbersome and an expression of affection should come trippingly from the tongue, not collapse like a bad souffle, even for a Vulcan.
(exclamation)
Hey! or Oi! A Vulcan word used to attract attention or express distress. (see: takau, to beckon). Also, Tak-tak! (variant). Tak is generally louder, while tak-tak is typically softer; imagine the difference between summoning a taxi on the street and a waiter in a restaurant.
(noun)
passage, the act or process of moving forward, or through
(noun)
gerund, a word form derived from a verb but that functions as a noun, a part of speech, in Vulcan, a gerund is typically identical to the verb form.
(adjective)
capable, having the ability to act or perform
(noun)
volume, a book that is part of a series or set.
vohkau
(verb)
to compel, to force compliance.
vra'
(affix)
implying failure, or lack of success
(adjective)
agreeable, enjoyable, pleasant (see: sep-wafikh, to agree)
(noun, adjective)
routine, something done on a regular or repeated basis
(affix)
~able, ~ible, variation of ~yehat, applied for euphony.
(verb)
to hurry, to act with greater than normal speed. (this will be ye’k’uh, “Hurry!” when spoken as in imperative, ye’k’voh if employing the honorific voice.)
(noun)
hurry, haste, to act with greater than normal speed
(adjective)
tranquility, calm, stillness, the state or condition of being calm or tranquil
(verb)
to admire, to respect or approve
(noun)
admiration, respect and approval
tired, present participle of the verb zungau. NOT zungor.
There you have them, 119 neologisms for Vulcan. I plan to put these and my other words into a google spreadsheet so they can be searched both by Vulcan and FSE words.
dif-tor-heh-smusma
-- T'Lara
