logical language - Developers

in most cases, far exceed the dynamism and range of such English word series.
Another principle underlying the formation of words in Ithkuil is complementarity. Western thought
and language generally reflect Aristotelian logic in the way they conceptualize the world and the
interrelationships between discrete entities in that world. Ithkuil, on the other hand, views the world as
being based on complementary principles, where, instead of discrete independence between related
entities, such concepts are seen as complementary aspects of a single holistic entity. Such
complementarity is in turn reflected in the derivation of word-roots. By “complementarity” is meant that
the manifestation of a concept appears in any given context as either one sort of entity or another, but
never both simultaneously; yet, neither manifestation can be considered to be a discrete whole without
the existence of the other. A simple illustration of complementarity is the flip of a coin: the coin can only
land on one side or the other, yet without both sides being part of the coin, any given coin toss has no
meaning or contextual relevance no matter which side is face-up.
For example, in Western languages, words such as male, night, limb, sit, and happen are all
autonomous words, linguistically representing what are inherently considered to be basic mental
concepts or semantic primitives. However, in Ithkuil, none of these words is considered to be a
semantic primitive. Instead, they are seen to be parts of greater, more holistic semantic concepts,
existing in complementary relationship to another part, the two together making up the whole.
Thus, Ithkuil lexical structure recognizes that the word male has no meaning in and of itself without an
implicit recognition of its complementary partner, female, the two words mutually deriving from a more
basic, holistic concept, translatable into English as living being. Similarly, the word night(time) derives
along with its complement day(time) from the underlying concept translatable as day (24-hour period),
while limb, along with its complement trunk or torso, derives from the stem (corporeal) body.
Actions, too, are not exempt from this principle of complementarity, an example being the relationship
between sit and seat; one has no meaning without an implicit and joint partnership with the other, i.e.,
one cannot sit unless one sits upon something, and whatever one sits upon automatically functions as a
seat. We see the awkward attempt of English to convey these jointly dependent but mutually exclusive
perspectives when comparing the sentences Please sit down and Please be seated. Another example
involves the word happen or occur, which Ithkuil recognizes as having no real meaning without the
attendant implication of consequence or result, the two being complementary components of a holistic
concept roughly translatable as event or situation.
The Ithkuil word for hole illustrates another instance of complementarity. Holes can be looked at from
two different, but interrelated perspectives: either as an opening connecting two different spaces (or
access point to a previously unavailable space, i.e., a pit), or as a discontinuity in the surface or
structural integrity of the dividing entity separating the two realms. In other words, one can focus on the
potential function or consequences of the hole, or on the structural nature of the hole. Either of these
two perspectives represents a legitimate, but complementary way to consider a hole or puncture. Thus,
the Ithkuil word would have two derivative roots each indicating one of these two perspectives. One
such root would be used when saying There’s a hole in your shirt, while the other would be used when
saying She saw me through a hole in the fence.
Ithkuil recognizes that such complementarity exists for virtually any concept, in fact that it is one of the
foundational principles of the universe itself. No beam of light can be spoken of without implicit
recognition of its source. No signal can be described without accounting for the signaling device. Indeed,