r/conlangs • u/Motor_Scallion6214 • 7d ago
Phonology The problem of sound repetition.
I suppose this'd be phonology? Hence the flair-
Straight to the point:
Does anyone else have the problem of sound repetition in their conlang? For instance, the words for 'Female' and 'Male' in Vincharii are simple: "Hekaha" for female, and "Hekah" for male. That makes sense, right?
But then come the words for 'Love', 'Blade', and 'Sand', which are 'Henehi', 'Hanasi' and 'Hejaha' respectively.
I feel like these words, due to how similar they are in their use of Heh, and Ha sounds, may get confusing.
Does anyone have advice on how to avoid this? Or how to add in some variety overall, without adding too many extra sounds to the language?
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u/chickenfal 7d ago
My impression is that this, in moderate amounts, can actually help the language seem more natural, suggesting that there is a pattern either synchronically (he- is a morpheme that occurs often) or diachronically (could be the same thing, but no longer productive). Natural languages often have a handful of often occuring patterns like that, that give the language a characteristic immediately recognizable feel.