Zompist Bboard Again

It's nearly December again, so let's get a Lexember thread going.

For those unfamiliar, the practice of Lexember is to coin a new word in one or more of your languages each day of December. With a thread like this, we can share what we come up with and typically also follow a prompt of some kind, but the latter isn't a requirement for participation in the thread.

In 2023 we had suggested themes for each week (and previous Lexembers have been similar AFAIK). Last year we used an Advent calendar of letters that xxx had made. This time around I'd like to go back to some kind of theme arrangement.

Here are this year's themes:

December 1st-7th: Culture and the Unusual
Words for highly specific things that may not lend themselves to 1:1 translation. Does your conculture worship a pantheon? Do the people wear a hat shaped like a sacred plant on the 23rd day of the 8th month? At that, is their calendar lunisolar, or what? Is there a specific word for the first slice of a cake or pie?

December 8th-14th: Movement and Exercise
Words for movements of the body or of objects and things/properties related to those. Can you talk in your language about pressing, curling, or squatting; body positions in rock climbing, dance, or sex; muscle soreness or stiff joints? What about rotation vs. revolution; planets in retrograde; wheels and axles? How do you describe weight, speed, torque?

December 15th-21st: Biology and Taxonomy
Words for living things, or formerly living things told of in stories and/or learned about from fossils. Also parts of the body if you like. Fungi, orange trees, marmosets; griffins, trilobites, archeopteryxes; tentacles, thumbs, antennae. How might one talk in your conlang about the Cambrian Explosion, or speciation, or descent from a common ancestor?

December 22nd-28th: Economy and Exchange
Words for goods, services, and how they are given and taken. How would you refer to a farmers' market or a stock market; a gift economy or a cryptocurrency; window shopping or free samples; IOUs or tally-sticks; a game of white elephant or secret Santa? Does your language allow you to complain that a relationship feels transactional? &c.

December 29th, 30th, and 31st: Anything Goes
Whatever you want.

I would love to participate in this, it'll be a good excuse to expand the dictionaries of my more recent conlangs. at the moment, I have no ideas for themes, but I'll come back once I come up with something good like one does every once in a while.

Overly specific cultural terms (“culture” broadly interpreted).

Here's an idea: names for specific kinds of living organisms

/ˌnɐ.ˈɾɛn.dɚ.ˌduːd/ wrote: ↑Mon Nov 17, 2025 6:23 pm Here's an idea: names for specific kinds of living organisms

Bonus points if they appear in Cambrian explosion formations but are extinct IRL (e.g. Hallucigenia, Anomalocaris…).

Man in Space wrote: ↑Mon Nov 17, 2025 7:12 pm

/ˌnɐ.ˈɾɛn.dɚ.ˌduːd/ wrote: ↑Mon Nov 17, 2025 6:23 pm Here's an idea: names for specific kinds of living organisms

Bonus points if they appear in Cambrian explosion formations but are extinct IRL (e.g. Hallucigenia, Anomalocaris…).

I just watched the first Jurassic Park film and that has me thinking it would be cool to have some words for dinosaurs.

Man in Space wrote: ↑Mon Nov 17, 2025 4:49 pm Overly specific cultural terms (“culture” broadly interpreted).

Seconding this.

How about shops, markets and economy? The last term is for cultures without much interchange of goods.

OK, here's a way we can put this all together:

December 1st-7th: Culture and the Unusual
Words for highly specific things that may not lend themselves to 1:1 translation. Does your conculture worship a pantheon? Do the people wear a hat shaped like a sacred plant on the 23rd day of the 8th month? At that, is their calendar lunisolar, or what? Is there a specific word for the first slice of a cake or pie?

December 8th-14th: Movement and Exercise
Words for movements of the body or of objects and things/properties related to those. Can you talk in your language about pressing, curling, or squatting; body positions in rock climbing, dance, or sex; muscle soreness or stiff joints? What about rotation vs. revolution; planets in retrograde; wheels and axles? How do you describe weight, speed, torque?

December 15th-21st: Biology and Taxonomy
Words for living things, or formerly living things told of in stories and/or learned about from fossils. Also parts of the body if you like. Fungi, orange trees, marmosets; griffins, trilobites, archeopteryxes; tentacles, thumbs, antennae. How might one talk in your conlang about the Cambrian Explosion, or speciation, or descent from a common ancestor?

December 22nd-28th: Economy and Exchange
Words for goods, services, and how they are given and taken. How would you refer to a farmers' market or a stock market; a gift economy or a cryptocurrency; window shopping or free samples; IOUs or tally-sticks; a game of white elephant or secret Santa? Does your language allow you to complain that a relationship feels transactional? &c.

December 29th, 30th, and 31st: Anything Goes
Whatever you want.

äreo wrote: ↑Tue Nov 18, 2025 2:11 am December 1st-7th: Culture and the Unusual
Words for highly specific things that may not lend themselves to 1:1 translation. Does your conculture worship a pantheon? Do the people wear a hat shaped like a sacred plant on the 23rd day of the 8th month? At that, is their calendar lunisolar, or what? Is there a specific word for the first slice of a cake or pie?

December 8th-14th: Movement and Exercise
Words for movements of the body or of objects and things/properties related to those. Can you talk in your language about pressing, curling, or squatting; body positions in rock climbing, dance, or sex; muscle soreness or stiff joints? What about rotation vs. revolution; planets in retrograde; wheels and axles? How do you describe weight, speed, torque?

December 15th-21st: Biology and Taxonomy
Words for living things, or formerly living things told of in stories and/or learned about from fossils. Also parts of the body if you like. Fungi, orange trees, marmosets; griffins, trilobites, archeopteryxes; tentacles, thumbs, antennae. How might one talk in your conlang about the Cambrian Explosion, or speciation, or descent from a common ancestor?

December 22nd-28th: Economy and Exchange
Words for goods, services, and how they are given and taken. How would you refer to a farmers' market or a stock market; a gift economy or a cryptocurrency; window shopping or free samples; IOUs or tally-sticks; a game of white elephant or secret Santa? Does your language allow you to complain that a relationship feels transactional? &c.

December 29th, 30th, and 31st: Anything Goes
Whatever you want.

I'm a bit late, but I like these.

---

One of the first things I remember doing on the ZBB is last year's Lexember¹, so firstly, thank you last year's lexembrists for being so welcoming, and secondly, I've been on the ZBB for a year already! How‽.

¹ No spell check, I mean neither December nor Luxembourg

Lērisama wrote: ↑Tue Nov 18, 2025 4:58 am I've been on the ZBB for a year already! How‽.

ey, congrats!

Week 1 (In Amarin of course)

Grr. I lost the post to the forum gods. This is not going to be as comprehensive.

1^st Lex

月ハン　pēdhan
ピーダゥハン　/pɛːdhan/
A month in the Punuic religious¹ calendar.
From PSP *pīnδëhan², from *pīnδu irregularly suffixed with an unknown element, probably a god(ess).

Bonus Words:
月　pīdu
ピード　/piːdu/
A month, either lunar³ or calendar.
From PSP *pīnδu, probably from *pīn ‘id.’

月　pīn
ピーネ　/piːn/
The larger moon, probably called Lūašm⁴.
From PSP *pīn ‘id.’

¹ i.e. the northern one, but the state religion kept using it even after a standard compromise one was introduced
² Or *pīnδuhan with a later irregular development, but it's unclear
³ The larger moon – Žōs has two
⁴ Note deciphering dependent

Lexember 1st

guur /ʁuːr/ [ʁuːr] m. inan. 'period of time'
guure kaarhi /ʁuːræ kɑːrhi/ [ˈʁuːɾɐ ˈkɑːrçe] m. inan. 'month' (lit. period of time of the moon)
stat. q'awt /qʼɑwt/ [qʼɔːt̪], imp. uq'awt /uqʼɑwt/ [oˈqʼɔːt̪] 'be between'
guure kaarhi iq'awt /ʁuːræ kɑːrhi iqʼɑwt/ [ˈʁuːɾɐ ˈkɑːrçe eˈqʼɔːt̪] m. inan. 'intercalary month'

(Yes, the traditional calendar of the Rihalle Kaafi speakers is lunisolar.)

Msérsca has a double function as both a personal language and that of a conculture, so I may further a bit of both with this week's theme. Let's start with the latter, since I haven't done much for it in a long time.

The speakers of Msérsca have a god, Drasonis or perhaps Zassonis in later speech, who is associated with technology and communication. He is said to have given to each of the three sons of the first man a gift: to the first he gave agriculture and animal husbandry; to the second he gave metallurgy; and to the third he gave writing. He is worshipped by a semi-secret society of technician-priests. Advanced technology (roughly that of the year 1900 in our world) is the exclusive purview of this priesthood; most of the surrounding society looks more or less pre-industrial but with trains and telephone poles in select areas, which these priests have a sacred duty to build, maintain, and repair, and whose proliferation is limited by law.

From his name* we can derive

Lexember 1:
zassoném
[ˈzasːɔniɛm]
engineer, technician, from Zassoniri genitive + cem man; with nella woman we can get zassonella, but words derived from cem are not typically thought of as strictly masculine

*Male names tend to end in -is and female names tend to end in -o

2^nd Lex

育ンく　　　　　Jēwāg
イꜜーワーンカゥ　/jɛːwɔːɣ/
A month of the Lēri Ziwi religious calendar, corresponding to April to May/June

Etymology:
From the PPS *jajwāhkë ‘they grow’, from the obselete verb *jajw-, to grow

I’m going to combine the ZBB and CBB Lexembers. (I understand I’m late to start here…I am so tired these past few days.)

Lexember 1

Culture and the Unusual

Proto-Taltic

*såqqiklı /*sɔkkʷitʲlɨ/ ‘to fail to notice s.t. because one is distracted doing something else’
*sʌlukæqʌs /*səlukɛtʲʷəs/ ‘to go hunting/fishing and return back empty-handed’

Tsəmbaktswəspwəyksma

-kəwun/-kəwuk- /-kəwək/ [-kəwun/-kəwuk-] ‘upwind’
-sn/-sk /-sk/ [-ʃn/-ʃk-] ‘downwind’
nasəyts /kasəjss/ [nãsəjt^s] ‘to hold a grudge (against s.o.)’

Xı̋xǒcq Tlar Canà

bsôrng /bʒõɹ^B2/ MB [bjỹˀu̯˧˩] : Gu [bjõt˩] : Gn [bzõˀɹ˨˥˦] ‘to heal s.o., to treat s.o.’s wounds’
glörùy /ʎo^D2ʒoi̯^A2/ MB [ʎøˀ˧˩ʒyi̯˥˩] : Gu [ɟo˩ʒac˧] : Gn [ʟo˧ɣei̯ˀ˩] ‘gossip, busybody, nosy person, snoopy person’
quiâongch /ki̯ɔ̃ʃ^B2/ MB [ki̯ø̃ˀi̯˧˩] : Gu [ki̯õʃ˩] : Gn [hɑ̃ˀx˨˥˦] ‘to prepare (food, material) without using red plants in the process’
xǎchluȧong /saʃ^B1lu̯ɔ̃^D1/ MB [sas˩˥lu̯ã˩˥] : Gu [saʃ˩lu̯õː˩] : Gn [sæˀx˩lu̯ɑ̃˧] ‘plant that looks like it has two trunks or stalks growing from one base’

Rocks, Minerals, Geology

Proto-Taltic

*æltestʌq /*ɛhteɕtəkʷ/ ‘topsoil’
*kælkæs /*kɛhkɛɕ/ ‘pass, route between two mountains’
*qaslı /*kʷaslɨ/ ‘ground, earth, land, soil’
*satiqultu /satitʷʲultu/ ‘glacial runoff’

Tsəmbaktswəspwəyksma

ngamadna /hapakka/ [ŋãmã^dnã] ‘fault line, crack, crevice, rift, split’
nganatsam /hakassap/ [ŋãnãt^sãm] ‘seasonal river, wadi, spring, stream’
nyewun /kjawək/ [njẽwun] ‘pebble’
unaypətyi /wØkajpəkjə/ [unãjpətji] ‘sinkhole’

Xı̋xǒcq Tlar Canà

chúngquia̋er /cũ^C1ki̯ɛɹ^D1/ MB [tʃỹ˦˩˧ki̯ɛu̯˩˥] : Gu [cõː˨˥ki̯ɛt˩] : Gn [cũ˥hæɹ˧] ‘crystal; grain (of rock, stone, or metal)’
coénhė /ku̯ẽn^C1e^D1/ MB [ku̯ĩn˦˩˧e˩˥] : Gu [ku̯ẽn˨˥eːˀ˧˩] : Gn [ku̯ẽʔ˥e˧] ‘basalt’
gnènhgû /ɲen^A2ŋu^B2/ (MB [dʒĩn˥˩guˀ˧˩], Gu [ɲẽn˧ŋuː˩], Gn [næ̃ʔ˩nuˀ˨˥˦]) ‘flint’
jayganc /ɟai̯^A1ŋãc^A1/ MB [dʒei̯˧gãt˧] : Gu [ɟac˥ŋãc˥] : Gn [ɟoi̯˩næ̃c˩] ‘chert’

From the CBB Lexember
Week 1: Geology

*akai “pearl” from PA *jakapi

*kunameta “lava literally fires of the earth”
*aakuna “volcano literally fire mountain”

The word *kuna is first attested in these two compounds and is probably from Shiritisa *kuuna PCK *kuna. It however was previously created so it is ineligible for this relay.

*śakajaanna “natural disaster, literally fire storm although the word for fire is no longer attested”
*śakajajui “earthquake, literally earth storm”

*kumikawana “continent, literally north+south deriving from the fact the amarin archipelago is in between two continents” composed of two new coinages *kumi “cold/north” and *kawana “south”. In Proto Amaric *aśaĺ “east” was also the word for continent and *kamna “west” was also the word for Island (it still means big island in Amarin. North was instead *jankuśi and south *raat́i which would become Amarin *ajusi and *raasi respectively.

*anisii “be sticky” from PA *anet́ii “to swallow”
>*anisiimita “sticky earth/slime (the substance) (slime the creature is *ome)

Gems/Jewels (this one works for wealth/power/politics also)
*pajari “sapphire” from PA *pankari

*osuna “emerald” from PA *josona
*oso “precious stone” Onomatopoeic

*pajumita “ruby” from *paju “jewel” + *meta “earth”

Lexember 2nd

siixu /siːχu/ [ˈʃeːχo] m. inan. 'grapes', 'vine'
akka /ɑkkɑ/ [ˈɑkːɐ] f. inan. 'traditional intoxicating drink made by fermentation'
pfv. k'uuxa /kʼuːχɑ/ [ˈkʼoːχɐ], ipfv. k'aaxa /kʼɑːχɑ/ [ˈkʼɑːχɐ], imp. ak'uux /ɑkʼuːχ/ [ɐˈkʼoːχ] 'ferment'
pfv. zala /zɑlɑ/ [ˈzɑlɐ], ipfv. zela /zælɑ/ [ˈʒælɐ], imp. uzal /uzɑl/ [oˈzɑl] 'leaven'
akke siixi /ɑkkæ siːxi/ [ˈɑcːɐ ˈʃeːxe] f. inan. 'wine'
akke saqri /ɑkkæ sɑqri/ [ˈɑcːɐ ˈsɑkre] f. inan. 'beer'
sawma /sɑwmɑ/ [ˈsɔːmɐ] m. inan. 'the haoma of the Zoroastrians' (this is an early Indo-Iranian loan)

Lexember 2

Culture and the Unusual

Common Caber

rdavgia /ɾdavʑ(i)a ~ ɾdavj(i)a/ ‘copal, aromatic resin or sap burnt for its smell’
ŭtrava /ɨtsawa ~ ɨtɾawa/ ‘generational guilt due to transgression(s) of ancestor(s)’

Proto-Taltic

*ısælaqıs /*ɨsɛlakʷɨs/ ‘to die as a consequence of doing something stupid’
*ossæl /*ossɛ/ ‘to kick s.o. down a well, shaft, or similar enclosed area at the bottom of a drop-off with the intent to kill or seriously injure’
*qåtekʌkæsqal /*kʷɔtekəkɛskʷal/ ‘to preserve food by burying it outside (in snow or under dirt) to maintain a low temperature’
*tækolele /*tɛkolehe/ [tɛkolele] ‘to injure o.s. due to coughing, sneezing, sniffling, or yawning’

Xı̋xǒcq Tlar Canà

caefjáe /kɛ^A1ɸʃɛ^C1/ MB [kɛ˧ɸtʃɛ˦˩˧] : Gu [kɛː˥jɛː˨˥] : Gn [kæ˩ɸcæ˥] ‘art style characterized by fluid lines, use of gold and silver (esp. as applied foil) against dark backgrounds, gentle curves in preference to straight lines, and varying line widths’ (> kémłéa)
ciëgláng /ci̯e^D2ʎã^C1/ MB [tʃi̯eˀ˧˩ʎẽ˦˩˧] : Gu [ci̯eː˩ʎãː˨˥] : Gn [ci̯e˧ʎɑ̃˥] ‘cosmetic pigment sold in powdered form and applied after mixing it with a little seawater’
chayt /cai̯t^A1/ MB [tʃei̯t˧] : Gu [caʃt˥] : Gn [coi̯ʔ˩] ‘age of majority, age of adulthood, coming-of-age, maturity’
sőrgä /ʃoɹ^C2ŋa^D2/ MB [ʃøˀu̯˩˦gaˀ˧˩] : Gu [ʃoˀt˦˥ŋaː˩] : Gn [xoɹ˧næ˧] ‘blank page, empty canvas, unfilled-out form; ore, raw/unworked material’ (the former meaning is original)
tu̇hǎocq /tu^D1ɔk^B1/ MB [tu˩˥ɔk˩˥] : Gu [tsu˧ɔk˧] : Gn [tu˧ɑˀk˩] ‘social call involving meeting for tea’

Rocks, Minerals, Geology

Common Caber

bdençin /bɾɛnˈɕin ~ bdɛnˈɕin/ ‘loam’
cŏosc /kəˈɔsk/ [kəˈɔsk] ‘flowstone’
dagini /dagiˈni/ [daʑ(i)ˈni ~ daj(i)ˈni] ‘anthracite’
qorx /tɕɔɾks/ ‘soil horizon, layer of soil or deposited rock’

Çuvvaccoçim

bǵlaym’ /bʎajmʔ/ ‘to erode (s.t.), to gradually ruin (s.t.) via physical processes’
bincoy’ /biɲcojʔ/ ‘island’
gÿemoyinǵ /gɰɤmoɰiɲ/ ‘silt, fine wet sand or soil’
mboǵubbonggonǵ /mboɟubboŋgoɲ/ ‘granite’
nggyoǵlloc /ngjoɟʎoc/ ‘talc’
’ïgllec /ʔɯgʟɤc/ ‘to shake, to quake (of ground)’

Kgáweq’

’aqgo’ótła /qχoˈʔotɬa/ ‘river valley’
ark /aʕk/ ‘mountain range’
—> ne’ark /neˈʔaʕk/ ‘mountain’
—> Gna’árk /gnaˈʔaʕk/ ‘the Burning Mountains’
’ấntsâk /ˈʔəntsək/ ‘foothill’
—> ’âdâ’ấntsâk /ʔədəˈʔəntsək/ ‘tumulus, burial mound, dolmen’
—> ’u’ấntsấk /ʔuˈʔəntsək/ ‘hill, mount’
—> gnâ’ấntsấk /gnəˈʔəntsək/ ‘piedmont’
qu’âkgấltsur /quʔəˈkxəltsuʕ/ ‘graphite’ (< kgấltsur ‘supersede, overwrite, override, cover’)
tú’ree /ˈtuʔʕeᵊ/ ‘hole, pit, corridor, shaft’
—> ’itú’ree /ʔiˈtuʔʕeᵊ/ ’mineshaft’
—> sęęrtú’ree /sḛᵊʕˈtuʔʕeᵊ/ ‘sinkhole, deep pit; hazard’

Classical Khaya

althiĝ /altʰi^ŋg/ [altʰi^ŋg] ‘breccia’
funq’ih /funq’ih/ [fuɴq’ih] ‘basin, catchment’
ǧowsuhu /^ɴɢuwsuhu/ [^ɴɢowsuhu] ‘bajada’
qhowo /qʰuwu/ [qʰowo] ‘fumarole, geyser’
sulga /sulga/ [sulga] ‘coarse gravel largely comprising smallish, rounded stones or pebbles’
thaytam /tʰajtam/ [tʰæjtam] ‘mesa’

Proto-Taltic

*ækkol /*ɛkkol/ ‘to strike s.t. while digging underground or underwater (e.g., a mineral deposit, a shipwreck, one’s lost keys, bedrock)’
*kæsʌkkulo /*kɛsəkkulo/ ‘geode; place for hiding valuables; treasure vault’ (the first sense is original)
*loti /*loti/ ‘lava, magma’
*oqil /*okʷil/ ‘to run into something dangerous or deadly while digging underground or underwater’
*qiltukæs /*kʷiltukɛs/ ‘bedrock; foundation(s) of building(s)’ (the former sense is original)
*sæsikʌtåktıs /*sɛsikətɔktɨs/ ‘gabbro’
*tulåqqık /*tulɔkkʷɨk/ ‘bauxite’

Tsəmbaktswəspwəyksma

arat /asass/ [ãɾãt] ‘large cave, cave complex’
natsun /kasswØk/ [nãt^sun] ‘water table; (aug.) aquifer’
nyarum /kjaswØp/ [njãrum] ‘red clay’
yestyəkəy /jaskjəkəj/ [jãʃtjəkəj] ‘vein (of ore or mineral), layer, source or store of resource(s) incorporated into a larger environment’

Xı̋xǒcq Tlar Canà

duûyng /du̯õi̯^B2/ MB [dy̯ø̃ˀi̯˧˩] : Gu [dzu̯ãc˩] : Gn [du̯æ̃ˀi̯˨˥˦] ‘quicklime’
psı̋n /pʃĩn^C2/ MB [pjẽˀn˩˦] : Gu [pʃẽˀn˦˥] : Gn [psĩʔ˧] ‘to slake, to disintegrate or crumble due to exposure to moisture’
sőrgä /ʃoɹ^C2ŋa^D2/ MB [ʃøˀu̯˩˦gaˀ˧˩] : Gu [ʃoˀt˦˥ŋaː˩] : Gn [xoɹ˧næ˧] ‘ore, raw/unworked material; blank page, empty canvas, unfilled-out form’