slug: "basa/vocabulary"
lang: en
title: "Basa de Dunya: Vocabulary"
pageCreated: "2022-06-06"
pageUpdated: "2023-10-11"
extends ../basa-en.pug
block header
h2
strong Vocabulary
small.subtitle(lang=basa) Kalimaya
block content
p Basa de Dunya draws from eight main wells to source its vocabulary, although words may be coined from existing roots or drawn from other languages as needed. These eight languages were chosen for their large number of speakers, geographic diversity, and status as #[i linguæ francæ]:
ul.language-list
li: figure
img(src="/basa/vocabulary/lang_en.png")
figcaption
div.names English
br
span(lang=basa) inglix
i.speakers 1,350,000,000 speakers
li: figure
img(src="/basa/vocabulary/lang_zh.png")
figcaption
div.names Mandarin Chinese
br
span(lang=basa) gwanhwa
i.speakers 1,120,000,000 speakers
li: figure
img(src="/basa/vocabulary/romance.png")
figcaption
div.names The Romance languages
br
span(lang=basa) romanus baxas
i.speakers 900,000,000 speakers
li: figure
img(src="/basa/vocabulary/lang_hi.png")
figcaption
div.names Hindi–Urdu
br
span(lang=basa) hindi i urdu
i.speakers 750,000,000 speakers
li: figure
img(src="/basa/vocabulary/lang_ar.png")
figcaption
div.names Arabic
br
span(lang=basa) arabi
i.speakers 270,000,000 speakers
li: figure
img(src="/basa/vocabulary/lang_ms.png")
figcaption
div.names Malay–Indonesian
br
span(lang=basa) melayu i endónexa
i.speakers 225,000,000 speakers
li: figure
img(src="/basa/vocabulary/lang_ru.png")
figcaption
div.names Russian
br
span(lang=basa) ruski
i.speakers 200,000,000 speakers
li: figure
img(src="/basa/vocabulary/lang_sw.png")
figcaption
div.names Swahili
br
span(lang=basa) swahili
i.speakers 70,000,000 speakers
p Though they aren’t direct members of the eight sources, classical languages like Latin, Ancient Greek, and Persian have contributed a great hoard of terminology to the above, and thus pop up frequently in Basa etymology.
p When borrowing words (with the exception of proper nouns and ethnic terms, discussed in the next section), the stress shifts onto the penultimate syllable. For example, the Russian word #[span(lang='ru') ещё] #[i(lang='ru-Latn') eščë] is pronounced #[span.ipa [jɪˈɕːɵ]], with its stress on the final syllable. It was borrowed into Basa de Dunya as #[strong(lang=basa) yexo], pronounced #[span.ipa.basa /ˈjeʃo/], with the stress on the penultimate syllable.
h3#geography: a(href="#geography")
strong Geographic and ethnic words
small.subtitle(lang=basa) Dunyaxweni i etnoni kalimas
p Words for geographic areas and ethnic groups keep the stress from their original language, marked with an acute accent on the stressed syllable. For example, the Spanish #[i(lang="es") español] #[span.ipa /espaˈɲol/] was borrowed as #[strong(lang=basa) espanyól] #[span.ipa.basa /espʰanˈjol/], keeping the stress on the final syllable.
p Geographic and ethnic words are also not required to conform to Basa #[a(href="/basa/phonology#phonotactics") syllable structure]. For example, the English #[i Wales] #[span.ipa /weɪ̯lz/] was borrowed as #[strong(lang=basa) Weils] #[span.ipa.basa /ʋejls/], even though phonotactics might otherwise demand something like #[i(lang=basa) *Weiles] or #[i(lang=basa) *Weilse].
p The word for a country and the word for its people are derived separately: #[strong(lang=basa) Weils] “Wales” and #[strong(lang=basa) kimréig] “Welsh” are separate roots. The base form of a geographic word is always a noun, and the base form of the term for an ethnic group is always an adjective.
p The word for a country and the word for its people #[em always] refer to those two meanings. It would be improper to refer to the government of Wales as #[i(lang=basa) *kimréig gwan]; #[i(lang=basa) gwan de Weils] would be more accurate.