Lexember is a social-media challenge to add at least one word to your constructed language (conlang) each day of December. Lexember was created by Mia DeSanzo and Pete Bleackley in 2012, so this will be its fourteenth year! (2025-2012+1!) Adding a word a day is certainly an easily achievable goal, something that you can do over a cup of coffee, on a commute, or when pulling out your smartphone.
This year I’ve created three sets of prompts, depending on how ambitious you are.
Expanding a Conlang
The easiest prompt is for when you already have a constructed language and want to expand it. This calendar adapts 31 themes from Rick Harrison’s classic Universal Language Dictionary 2.7:
Creating a Naming Language
Perhaps you’d like to create a conlang to use to name characters in stories or a TTRPG campaign. For this prompt, you’ll coin an adjective and a noun each day. When you’re done, you’ll be able to combine these roots in many different ways to coin tens of thousands of names.
You can use these tables to generate names in the following ways:
- adjective1: e.g., “Pure” (Katherine)
- adjective1 + adjective2: “Noble and Shining” (Alberta)
- adjective1 + noun1: “Chief Protector” (Howard)
- noun1 + noun2: “Elf Ruler” (Avery)
- adjective1 + adjective2 + noun1: “Noble, Brave Warrior” (Gunther)
- adjective1 + noun1 + noun2: “Strong Wolf Warrior”
- adjective1 + adjective2 + noun1 + noun2: “Constant Ready Battle Hammer”
Here are some tips for creating a naming language for use by players.
Creating a New Language
If you’re creating a language for the first time, you can start with a Swadesh list. The linguist Morris Swadesh created a few versions of these lists: “words in the Swadesh lists were chosen for their universal, culturally independent availability in as many languages as possible” (Wikipedia). We’re using the Swadesh 100.
Each weekday but the last, you’ll coin three words; each weekend day, you’ll coin four words. On the last day of the year, you’ll coin two words. That will give you 100 words total!
Choosing the Sounds You Want
If you’re creating a new conlang, you’ll need a sound system. The easiest way to get started with a phonology is just to pick a subset of English sounds that work for you for the effect you’re after. Have a favorite sound from a foreign language you’ve studied? Add that! Want to do something more complex or formal? Check out the free version of the Language Construction Kit by Mark Rosenfelder.
Whichever prompt you pick, have fun! And share your creations with the hashtag #Lexember on the social-media platform of your choice.
Recap – Denju Lexember, 2025
Update: January 1, 2026
I really enjoyed seeing others post to social media their use of my prompts to create words in their conlangs. Seeing their efforts and—at times—their struggles to do it everyday, I realized I should shared a “Rule 0”: if you don’t get to your prompt each day, you can always make them up later! I myself fell behind at Christmas and only worked to catch up yesterday and today.
As I have for the prior two Lexembers, I coined words for Denju, my language descended from Proto-Indo-European.
I used the Expanding a Conlang prompt inspired by Rick Harrison’s Universal Language Dictionary. I designed that prompt for a new conlang, but Denju has over 2,900 words. So I had to step back and quickly categorize the words against the Universal Language Dictionary in Google Sheets, so that I could sort by theme and see what words I had or didn’t have for a theme. Every day I reviewed the long list of uncategorized words, categorizing those that met the theme of the day. I also had to search for the term I wanted to define first to make sure it wasn’t miscategorized.
Most days I coined one word, but sometimes, as on December 9, when I coined five word for tools, I get on a roll. Here are this year’s words:
- proregra [< pro-, before + reg, to regulate, to make just/right, to reign, to see, to bind + -ra, agentive.] oracle, prophet, seer
- swebrater [< swe-, self’s + brater, men of one’s own kin group.] brother
brater [bhrater-.] men of one’s own kin group, male cousin
swesor [suesor-.] women of one’s own kin group, female cousins and closer - wegwistis [< weg-, augmentative + gwistis, finger.] thumb
- duhrej [< du-, move forward + hrej, to race.] to charge
- pal [pāl-.] to examine by touch, to feel
- bhoitrom [< bhoid-, to hunt/harrass with dogs + -trom, tool, instrument.] dog, hunting dog
- zerg [bhreg-, the white tree.] birch
- wegwento [weg-, augmentative + wento-, blowing.] storm
wentot [wento-, blowing + -t, diminutive.] breeze, zephyr - hecs [*h₂eḱs.] axle, axis
er [*h₂erh₃-.] to plow
ertrom [< er-, to plow + -trom, instrument.] plow
quel [kuel-, to turn.] wheel
yugo [yugo-.] yoke - stigrotfou [< stigro-, arrow + tfou, sheath.] quiver
custi [kusti-, bladder.] bladder, waterskin, wineskin
paita [paita, goatski“.] goatskin; goatskin wine/water container - pedi [< ped-, food + i.] sandal
sleub [sleubh-, to slide, to slip.] sleeve - comhoijo [< com-, collective + hoijo‑, wall.] walls
hoijo [dhoigh-o‑.] wall - comatra [< co-, augmentative + matra, mother.] matriarch
- tlant [tla-nt-.] unit of weight, toll, balance
- guhrn̥ [guhren-.] soul
pr̥c [pr̥k-.] to pray for; prayer - hommen [< hom-, judge + -men, agent.] judge
- cim [h₂im-.] to imagine; to imitate
- wene [uene-.] to hope
- cetitolcu [< ceti-, back, again + tolcu-, to speak.] to reply, to respond, to answer
- osthr̥g [osthr̥g, bone.] knucklebone, die, dice
- nomeso [*nom-eso‑.] number, numeral
- gradu [grad-u-, step, stage.] degree, extent, rank, step, stage
- xuro [skuro-, north wind.] north, north wind
- gwem [guem-, to come.] to enter
- sleubro [sleubh-ro, slippery.] sled, sledge
- noyer [no-, that + ayer, morning.] that morning, tomorrow
- strowo [strow-o.] straw
- bre [bre.] cooked meat
- stemno [stə-mno‑, tree trunk.] matter, material
- diti [dī-ti‑, tidings, happening.] occurence
ditipr̥ [< diti, occurence + -pr̥, pejorative.] accident - spheitis [sphei-, to fatten, prosper, succeed + -tis, abstraction.] success
I may very well use the same prompts again next year, to continue to fill out the language.
Image credit: ASB, Wikimedia.
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