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.

Image credit: ASB, Wikimedia.