u/PastTheStarryVoids

Recently I created this pair of Knasesj words:

pehwi [ˈpʼɛ.wʵi] adj. • dry, not having liquid on the surface (not 'dried out'; see lengthy note at mun 'dried out')

Idiosyncratic use: The non-sticky side of tape can be referred to as the pehwi side.

mun [ˈmʊn] adj. • dry, dried, specifically by removing water from within something (see note)

See: pehwi 'having a dry surface'.

Knasesj has two words for dryness. Mun is used for when water has been removed from inside something, such as dry ground, dry clothes, or dried fruits, and pehwi for a surface not having liquid on it. For instance, what we call dry skin in English would be zelak mun [ˈze.læʔ ˈmʊn], but if your skin simply isn't wet, it would be zelak pehwi. Thus, after washing your hands, you would lipehwi [ˈli.pʼɛˌwʵi] 'dry' them, and pavements and roads that are wet azh pehwi [ˈæʑ ˈpʼɛ.wʵi] 'become dry'. Very short hair that can be easily toweled dry may azh pehwi, and longer hair may azh mun, but there's no strict distinction and hair in general could be described with either. Dried-up bodies of water can be described with either, mostly interchangeably, but there could be a slight difference in emphasis. I might use wesi pehwi [ˈwe.si ˈpʼɛ.wʵi] 'dry river' to focus simply on its current state, whereas wesi mun 'dried-up river' more makes the point that the water has gone away. Only wesi mun is compatible with there still being some puddles about, since the water has been removed from the river as a whole, but puddles would mean it's not strictly pehwi. The concept of a dried-up body of water could also be expressed with the suffix -arzh [ɑʑ] 'ex-, former', e.g. wesiarzh [ˈwe.siˌɑʑ] 'what used to be a river'; this could suggest that it's a more permanent state (as if the river has "died").

pref.

• (on a word for a fruit or other food) dried

>mun-zhark
[ˈmʊn.ʑɑʔ]
dried-grape
“raisin”

The distinction was based on an extremely vague recollection of a mention in The Conlanger's Lexipedia of a language having several different words for different types of dryness. I have now found the passage:

>Lakota distinguishes several types of dryness:
- púza: not wet
- šéča: withered, applied to something that used to be alive: bones, wood, grass
- sáka: dried, hardened: hides, fruits, carcasses
- oyáȟe: dried up, applied to things that used to have liquids: empty lakes, a milkless udder
- tȟatȟápa: partially or nearly dried (meat, mud, clothes, etc.)

On the wetness front, in Knasesj I've just been using vr si. Si means 'water' and vr is a preposition best described 'characterized by the presence of', but it's more helpful to give a few other examples of it: vr kavö 'on fire', vr zhav 'in darkness / the dark', vr ehngu 'starry', and vr kohrzh 'in danger'. In one text, a person asks Zibnü vuu shiwi sha siëddi vr tsirklarn? 'How can people (foolishly) be like this?'.

English drench is etymologically a causative of drink, which is neat. I haven't at all explored words for different degrees of dryness, but offhand English has bone dry, damp, moist, soaking, sopping, and sopping wet.

What terms does your conlang have for wetness and dryness? Do you distinguish different kinds? Do you have any interesting etymologies, or any collocations like like English bone dry? And if you have any neat things to share from natlangs, I'd like to hear those too!