Core Roots
This page lists committed lexical roots. Function words, numerals, quantifiers, and productive affixes are documented separately.
People, animals, and body
| Root | Meaning |
|---|---|
mann | man / person |
kwenn | woman |
folk | a people; cultural or national collective |
wulf | wolf |
hund | dog |
katt | cat |
kropp | body |
hedd | head |
hand | hand |
frend | friend |
sipp | family / kin group |
folk is collective. Its ordinary plural folkar means multiple distinct peoples, not merely multiple individual persons.
Places and things
| Root / construction | Meaning |
|---|---|
hus | house |
hem | home |
dur | door |
bedd | bed |
rum | room |
stedd | place |
rad | road / way |
þing | thing |
far-þing | vehicle / conveyance; literally travel-thing |
mashin | machine / mechanism |
mat | food |
watr | water |
musik | music |
bok | book |
sang | song |
wedr | weather |
werk-stedd | workplace; literally work-place |
bund | group / bundle / collection |
gliff | glyph |
ord | word |
rit | rite / formal ceremony / ritual |
General concepts
| Root | Meaning |
|---|---|
krig | war |
tid | time |
tag | day |
natt | night |
morn | morning |
kveld | evening |
wek | week |
monþ | month |
jar | year |
nu | now |
werk | work / labor |
nam | name |
sprak | language / a language as a system |
dodd | death; the state or event of life ending |
wonnt | habit / custom / accustomed practice |
kompromis | compromise |
mid | middle / midpoint / center |
rot | root; botanical root or figurative origin / base |
Directions
| Root | Meaning |
|---|---|
nord | north |
sudd | south |
ost | east |
vest | west |
venst | left |
rett | right |
upp, ned, fram, and bak are documented with the spatial relation words because they also function as up, down, forward, and back.
Adjectives and states
| Root | Meaning |
|---|---|
stark | strong |
redd | red |
god | good |
ill | bad |
trett | tired |
gladd | happy |
sadd | sad |
vredd | angry |
kald | cold |
warm | warm |
gammal | old |
njivv | new |
stor | big |
smal | small |
hungr | hungry |
þurst | thirsty |
biss | busy |
erl | early |
latt | late |
hard | hard / difficult |
frii | free / unbound / at liberty |
The no-cost sense of English free is not currently specified by frii.
Verbs
| Root / construction | Meaning |
|---|---|
timb | build / construct |
far | go / travel |
far fra | leave / depart |
vil | want |
kan | can / be able |
þurf | need / require |
hav | have / possess |
werk | work |
mak | make / do |
skriv | write |
kenn | know |
zin | see |
kom | come |
giv | give |
nem | take |
sprek | speak |
liv | live |
sterf | die / cease living; by extension cease functioning |
fel | feel |
wak | wake |
ginn | start / begin |
end | finish / end |
rest | rest |
bund | collect / gather together |
mog | like / be fond of |
hass | hate / strongly dislike |
pleg | play |
bind | bind / commit / lock in / make firm by obligation |
sprek and sprak are intentionally related in form while remaining separate roots: speak versus language.
dodd and sterf deliberately separate death as a concept/state from to die as an event or process.
Working vocabulary not yet formally committed
The following forms have appeared as strong candidates in discussion but should remain visibly provisional until explicitly committed:
| Candidate | Meaning |
|---|---|
et | eat |
drink | drink |
slip | sleep |
les | read |
hor | hear |
þenk | think / thought or idea, using the same root as verb and noun |
lang | long |
still | still / quiet |
himmel | sky / heaven |
brott | crime |
lag | law |
dom | judgment / judge |
hedr | heroic glory |
ham | hammer |
kraft | power; one of a proposed semantic pair with makt |
makt | power; one of a proposed semantic pair with kraft |
malm | metal |
The exact semantic boundary between kraft and makt remains to be recovered or settled through use; neither should be given a more specific meaning until that distinction is deliberately re-established.
Keeping provisional forms separate prevents example scaffolding from silently becoming canon.