Compounds

Lesson Vocab

English Part of speech IPA Lugso Comment
corpse N compound ɣvifn-fχθəɣni gvifn-fhtogni body sleeping
deity_intelligent N compound* ɣuʃɮi gu5li sapient-SUPER
house N uɣənəɣɮ ugonogl wgah’nagl
milk N θʒuχ t3uh  
name N compound zujn-ɸus zuyn-pus symbol-soul
ocean N compound ɣiɮʔɮið-χɸiʃ gil’lid-hpi5 water_body-space
organ N compound* ifʒzəf if3zof order-NMLZ.DER.patient
pact N compound βuɮ-ɣuʃɮi bul-gu5li contract-deity_intelligent
promise N compound βuɮ-χun bul-hun contract-mortal
speech N compound* ɮʌzən lozon speak-NMLZ.DER.act
sun N compound ɮiχ-uɣənəɣɮ lih-ugonogl star-home
water N compound ɮuɣ-ʃxi lug-5xi blood-sky
word N compound zujn-səθ zuyn-sot symbol-thought
void N vʌɮx volx chasm, abyss, canyon
cultist N compound jʌɣə-sɻuʒ-zəβ yogo-sru3-zob know-truth-NMLZ.DER.agent

A compound noun is like “bus stop”, “jelly bean”, “doghouse”, “cell phone”, or “fire truck”.

In Lugso, these words would be “stop bus”, “bean jelly”, “housedog”, etc. The actual thing comes first (known as the head), followed by its modifying nouns.

Since Lugso employs noun cases, it is important to note that only the final noun of a compound is “cased”.

Adjectives may also form compounds, like in “serial killer” or “last rites”.

Finally, you must hyphenate compound nouns in Lugso: “jelly-bean”, “bus-stop”, “dog-house”.

Noun compounds

zyuzh rlohs-3uzug nziv5 lug

descend fuel--fire-ABL upright blood

Blood falls from the upright tree.

Tree: “fire fuel”. Grim.

Examples: Variations on “water”

Below, in the English translations, the “head” of the compound is bolded. Remember the head is the actual thing, and the other parts of the compound are modifiers on that thing. Remember also the English translations are backwards. the glosses have the correct Lugso word order.

lug-5xi ugonogl nogu

blood--sky home 1SG-POSS

Water is my home.

Water: sky-blood.

rir yux5ix sfu-lug-5xi

spread shore-LOC gas--blood--sky

Along the shore the clouds break.

Cloud: sky-blood gas.

zyuzh tgihp-lug-5xi5ix lih-ugonogld

descend bowl--blood--sky-LOC star--home-PL

The suns sink in the lake.

Lake: sky-blood bowl.

Verb compounds

English Part of speech IPA Lugso Comment
learn VB compound χuf-ju huf-yu consume knowledge
sacrifice_ascetic VB compound θɣus-zujn tgus-zuyn sacrifice-symbol
sacrifice_unwilling VB compound θɣus-θɮu tgus-tlu sacrifice-beast
sacrifice_willing VB compound θɣus-ɣuʃ tgus-gu5 sacrifice-sapient
see VB compound uʒ-fiɻ u3-fir sense-light
light N fiɻ fir also “radiation” (any radiation on the EM spectrum is light)
apprehend VB ðɮiɮ dlil  
hear VB compound uʒ-ɸujðu u3-puydu sense-sound
smell VB compound uʒ-ʔʒuzβðə u3-‘3uzbdo sense-scent
feel VB compound uʒ-ɮxʒiɸis u3-lx3ipis sense-pressure
pressure N ɮxʒiɸis lx3ipis  
pain N θun tun  

Verb compounds are something of a different animal, as their components are not always only verbs. In general, a verb compound is a group of words. The compound functions as a single word for the purposes of suffixes.

huf-yu’up sru3ir yogo-sru3-zob fhtogi’or opnur

learn-PRET truth-ACC cultist sleep-REL soon

The cultist, who was soon to die, learned the truth.

Cultist: truth-knower.

Learn: consume-knowledge.

“To see” is a verb that does a lot in English - it means to literally absorb photons with your eyes, but it also means to apprehend, to understand, and to find out. In Lugso, this is not the case: it strictly denotes photon absorption. “To see” in the sense of “to apprehend” is a different word (above).

You can see that “see” is literally “sense-light”: there are countless other senses that one can speak of in Lugso using the appropriate verb compounds (listed above). Note also that “light” is not just visual light in Lugso, it’s any kind of photon from radio wave to gamma ray. The elder gods have a totalizing perspective.

dlil3i sru3zi zotso noso

apprehend-RET truth-NEG way-GEN 1SG-GEN

I have learned the error of my ways.

u3-firup igx3id vo’unruv bxuyu5ir noso ip ilzdyo pol-hupz nogu

see-PRET fall-SUB exact-ADV.DER presence-ACC 1SG-GEN head shed-PTCP.PAST.PASS follower--human 1SG-POSS

I saw the severed head of my dear friend fall squarely into my lap.

“To feel” also has many implications: humans have all of pressure sense, heat sense, and pain sense, and more. Lugso divides these. While heat is just light, pressure-sense and pain-sense are their own words (although it is rare that simple “pain” will not suffice).

ADJ compounds

English Part of speech IPA Lugso Comment
narrow ADJ compound χi-ʔuɮ hi-‘ul small-two
short ADJ compound χi-ʔif hi-‘if small-one
thin ADJ compound χi-ʔuɮfəɮ hi-‘ulfol small-three
tall ADJ compound juɣ-if yug-if large-one
wide ADJ compound juɣ-uɮ yug-ul large-two
thick ADJ compound juɣ-uɮfəɮ yug-ulfol large-three
long ADJ compound juɣ-ɻis yug-ris large-dimension_spatial

Long, wide, and tall; short, narrow, and squat; Lugso’s got them all. But cultists think of these words a little differently - they describe largeness or smallness in spatial dimensions - first, second, and third.

Think of the sides of a box: Dimension 1 is box height; 2 is box width; 3 is box thickness. We might be tempted to say that 3 is “length”, but a tall thing is also “long” … it’s complicated to explain. Lugso has a word for “long”: “dimensionally great”. It’s not specific to a particular dimension.

tlu-lu5 hi-‘ul

beast--liquid small--two

narrow fish (two-small fish)

volx yug-ul

void wide

wide chasm (two-large void)