> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Constructed Languages List [mailto:CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU] Im
> Auftrag von Yahya Abdal-Aziz
> Gesendet: Dienstag, 30. August 2005 06:57
> An: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
> Betreff: New here
>
> Hi all!
>
> Just joined, and am new at conlanging, too. :-)
>
> About a month ago, I started cooking up a new language for the fun of it,
> little realising what depths I might need to plumb ...
>
> I've had a quick browse of a few recent posts, and the enormity of my
> grammatical ignorance now appals me ... Clearly, I'm going to have to get
> up to speed on, for one thing, several kinds of case that I haven't
> encountered previously in my linguistic travels. Any pointers
> appreciated!
>
> Regards,
> Yahya
Welcome to the list, fellow newbie and ignorant. :-) I just introduced
myself the other day and some on the list were so nice to suggest following.
(The original post was from Paul on Sunday, the response from taliensin)
> > Here are a few books you ought to consider buying:
> >
> > A Dictionary Of Grammatical Terms In Linguistics, Trask
> There's also his "A dictionary of phonetics and phonology", which I
> recommend.
> > Language Universals And Linguistic Typology, Comrie
> Pssh, Comrie is much easier to read than Croft's "Typology and
> universals". Croft's "Radical Construction Grammar" is interesting though,
> except for the middle third that reads like molasses.
> > Describing Morphosyntax, Payne
> This is the bible. Be aware that it doesn't cover *everything*, just 80%
> or so of grammar. If you answer every question in it you'll still not know
> how to compare things or say which is <adjective>r. It is also rather
> light on pronunciation and script.
> > The World's Writing Systems, Daniels & Bright
> This one is incredibly expensive. I recommend finding it in a library and
> photocopyting the introduction and scripts that captures your eye.
> > You also ought to become familiar with the IPA (International Phonetic
> > Alphabet) and CXS, which is how we represent the IPA in ASCII.
> The book to get here is:
> Handbook of the International Phonetic Association
> not because it teaches you the IPA, but because it lists what sounds many
> languages use, being a great inspiration.
> Oh, and as usual, you learn by doing. Welcome to the list!
Hope it helps,
Eduard