Re: Introducing Mashish and conlang survey correction

On Tue, Dec 03, 2002 at 06:38:47PM -0800, Heather Rice wrote:
> Corrections:
> Sorry I spelled your name wrong (blushing).
Not a problem. My name is odd enough (to a non-Chinese) that I wouldn't
expect people to get it right all the time.

[snip]
> BTW, does anybody live near or in Las Vegas?  I'm
> going to be there the next couple of weeks.  I've
> never actually seen another conlanger's work (other
> than on the internet) and I'm really curious to
> actually hold somebody else's conlang in my own hands.
Interestingly, all the material I have on Ebisedian is in electronic form.
Well, all except the rough letterforms of the writing system, which I've
unfortunately left languishing in hope of further inspiration. But then,
I'm a computer person, so that shouldn't be that surprising.

Oh yes, and I occasionally have printouts of the Ebisedian grammar/lexicon
as well, but since those almost immediately go out of date, I've given up
on killing more trees.

> Mashish:
>
> I don't know how to explain how the phonetics are
> pronounced.  While the phonetics have specific ways of
> pronunciation, I don't know SAMPA or anything like
> that.
It might be worth your while to learn basic IPA (of which SAMPA is an
email-friendly transcription). Any introductory phonetics text should give
you a good intro to IPA, or you could try searching online for a tutorial.
I have a URL to a nice tutorial site I found a year or two ago, but
unfortunately it seems to have been taken down since.

Nevertheless, if you already know a little about the theory behind the
IPA, the following should be very helpful in hearing what each IPA symbol
actually sounds like:
        http://www.ling.hf.ntnu.no/ipa/full/ipachart_vowels_fbmp3.html

[snip]
> n`an`a = jewel
> When compounded, the n is assimilated and presto!
> chan`aa = flower
> (And oops, just discovered another of my broken vowel
> harmony rules.  Slippery things, . . .)
Yep... Ebisedian is full of those... and I just can't seem to iron them
out either.

[snip]
> > Very interesting idea. Is this purely emphatic (as
> > in, emphasizing a
> > sentence) or is it part of a noun (the "stronger"
> > word actually means
> > "professional chef" as opposed to "I know how to
> > cook")?
>
> Well, I've actually found it to be a really useful
> tool, so I'm using it all sorts of ways.  In general,
> tone means the opposite of "figurative language."  In
> nouns, its really nothing but a definite article.
I see. Very interesting way of representing a definite article. :-)

> In verbs, it implies "obvious action"  So, you don't want
> to "tone" the verb "spy" when speaking of an agent
> watching a suspect, unless you are emphasizing that
> that agent is a clown who parked his camara in obvious
> (!) view in the street.
Hmm. I like this. A verb marking to show whether it is just any old
action, or whether it's a specific action that stands out.

[snip]
> I made Mashish because I was frustrated at the library
> system. I couldn't find any books to teach me Sumerian
> grammar, so I decided to create a "Sumerian" of my
> own.  (Now I found a grammar, and I'm blushing as I
> read it.)
[snip]

Heh. That's an interesting way for a conlang to be inspired. :-)

> I created a syllabary from Mashish, looking
> just like cuneiform.  I even found the best way to
> write those litte wedge things - glue sticks!  Tree
> stick, reed sticks don't work, but just wittle those
> craft hot glue sticks and wedge away!  Wish I knew
> something about computers, I'd post an example.
[snip]

That'd be interesting, I'm sure.


T

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