Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ    Attic   

Re: phonology, grammar and lexicon

From:Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...>
Date:Thursday, October 2, 2008, 20:54
I've done grammar first and I've done lexicon first, but mostly I do both at the
same time, like I did with Tazhu <http://fiziwig.com/tazhu/korpu001.html> by
translating one sentence at a time from McGuffy's reader, inventing both the
lexicon and grammar as I needed it for the next sentence. I used the same
approach with Soaloa: <http://fiziwig.com/soaloa/soaloa.html>

I've also done a detailed grammar using only English words plus some invented
particles, and then, as a completely separate second step, created the lexicon:
<http://fiziwig.com/soaloa/twostep.txt> and another one:
<http://fiziwig.com/soaloa/mut01.html>

I don't create phonologies because that's one area of linguistics I am not at
all interested in. I always use pretty much the same simple phonology: The
vowels from "Mogadishu day" (o,a,i,u,e) and the usual English consonants
pronounced in the usual English way. My conlangs tend to be designed so as to
be very tolerant of various accents and variations in pronunciation. (I try to
always avoid two words that differ only in the vowels used, like "rain/ran" or
"pin/pen". (I sometimes use words with TWO or more changed vowels, like
"pola/pilu", for example.) The key is, the words should be mutually
understandable whether the speaker is from Boston, Bombay, Berlin, or Belfast.
(Bahst'n, Boombai, Bayrleen, Bilfahst, Boestun, Bahmbay, Barlun, Baylfist, ...)

--gary

--- On Thu, 10/2/08, Jack Hall <jha0808@...> wrote:

> From: Jack Hall <jha0808@...> > Subject: phonology, grammar and lexicon > To: CONLANG@listserv.brown.edu > Date: Thursday, October 2, 2008, 11:45 AM > Hi! I've created many conlangs, but one thing seems > unclear, does it play any > role in wich order you create the phonology, grammar and > lexicon? And if it > does, i know that first i will create the phonology but if > it play any role, in > wich order should i do the grammar and the lexicon? Regards

Reply

Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>