how to make up new words

shakspaeree:

i made up some new words for my story and now think i’m qualified to give advice this is helpful for fantasy and nonsense literature

borrow words from your language forget greek and latin we already have those where are my tamil words, norwegian words, sotho words
try translating long words from your native language and keep it as one word like waterreflection or loveofmylife
or you can start with a portmanteau which is essentially smashing two words together like ship names

follow a few linguists’ blogs and learn about phenomena like verbing and  contrastive reduplication

try random stuff like using obscure place names as verbs or colours as adverbs
keep it meaningful but you could also take a leaf out of roald dahl’s book and make it funny
onomatopoeia!!!!!!
read the jabberwocky for inspiration every word in it sounds just right
ya know my boy shakespeare invented some (okay many) words? here’s how he did
here’re two huffopost lists of words invented by milton and dahl

and finally here’s a guardian article on making up words
that’s it! have fun and drop into my ask box if you invent cool words!

If you found this helpful, consider buying me a virtual coffee to keep me writing.