SANJIESAN LORE / Vocabulary design
Give an invented word a boundary, not one English equivalent
A glossary entry that pairs one invented word with one English word can hide important differences. Rosenfelder’s Language Construction Kit warns against simply reproducing English vocabulary patterns. You can start modestly: develop one term used in a scene, without claiming to have completed an entire fictional language.
Choose a word with a practical use
Imagine a settlement with a term for a temporary place offered to a traveller. Decide whether the term refers to a bed, an agreement, a household obligation or a place in a communal hall. Those meanings can overlap, but they should not be accidentally interchangeable. Write two short examples showing when a speaker uses the term. Keep both examples grounded in this invented setting rather than borrowing a living culture’s vocabulary as decoration.
Write one tempting misuse
Give a newcomer a situation where they apply the term too broadly. Perhaps they use it for a rented warehouse corner, while the resident hears a promise of personal hospitality. Write the resident’s correction through the immediate disagreement. The purpose is to reveal the term’s boundary, not to make the newcomer foolish. If both interpretations lead to exactly the same response, the distinction may not need a special invented word at all.
Check the term across three different voices
Use the word in a formal notice, a familiar conversation and a personal complaint. Decide whether all three speakers would naturally choose it, or whether one uses an ordinary paraphrase. The glossary can then explain the shared core and the important limits in a few sentences. Avoid promising a perfect translation where the story depends on a mismatch; a clear explanation of the difference is more useful than a falsely exact equivalent.