Clayton Smith on Iris Acht..."Iris has been examined as part of the "chess" metaphor, that is "Acht"=8, the number of squares on one side of a chess board, and the Iris/purple connection in terms of the red/green color scheme of the novel.  However, I've not yet run across a discussion of the other German meaning of "acht." "Acht” is also the imperative form of the verb “achten” in German, which means “to value” or “consider.”  Translated,“acht” would have a meaning akin to the authoritative command, “Pay attention!” Given Nabokov’s knowledge of German and penchant for linguistic games, there can be little doubt that he is telling astute readers in no uncertain terms to look at this passage, and specifically Iris Acht, very carefully."
Sandy Klein sent: http://www.ahoneyofananklet.com/2010/01/03/powerful-kramler-nabokov-decoded/ ...Nabokov appears to have introduced two coinages in the book...
Gary Lipon: (to JM) "I don't know if you mean to imply only two coinages, but, off the top of my head and for what its worth, I've never been able to find dictionary entries for 1) larvorium...2) stang..."
JM: Thanks, G.Lipon. The implication of only two words in PF came from "powerful kramler" (David Gorsline?), but it seems to be a good point, since you immediately came up with "larvorium" and "stang" (PF).  The other two words I also recollect, from PF, are "racemosa" and "iridule", brought up by VN elsewhere when he regrets that they never made it to the Webster's (like Lolita's "nymphet").
 
C.Smith's "Achtung" towards the German word "Acht" helped me to discover what word kept nagging me in connection to "stang", I mean, the substantive "Stange" meaning "perch,"  a recurrent term in PF related to hirondelles/swallows (Sybil) and waxwings, perhaps.
In PF, in a similar adaptation (common in Romance languages, where there is a "borboletario",ie a room for growing butterflies) as "larvorium", we find the more common "solarium." Perhaps if readers, like you, questioned other words a couple of striking Nabokovian coinages might still be found? 
Search the archive Contact the Editors Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla View Nabokv-L Policies Manage subscription options

All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.