Re: "Old Starrish"

En réponse à Rachel Klippenstein <estel_telcontar@...>:

> Hi out there,
>
> A couple months ago I heard about this list through
> another list I'm on, and thought "wow! there's a whole
> list of people out there who are inventing languages
> too! I have to join that!"  So now I have.
>
Welcome then! :)

>
> A language (provisionally called "Old Starrish", since
> I haven't invented enough of it to know what its
> speakers call it)
Funny, I first read it as "Old Starfish" ;))) . But since some people can name
a language after a seaslug (Bislama), why not a starfish? ;))

 in which the consonants carry all
> the lexical and grammatical meaning, and vowels convey
> flavour and expression, somewhat like tone of voice
> does in english.
Strange. Looks a bit like a semitic system, but with a serious twist. What kind
of "tone of voice" is conveyed by the vowels? Topicness? Evidentiality?

>
> Also, each of the 12 vowels in this language was
> associated with one of the twelve notes of the musical
> scale, so everything said in it automatically had a
> tune associated with it, and although it was not sung
> in everyday speech, any speaker would be able to
> convert a spoken sentence into its sung version.
> Poetry was not really separable from composing songs,
> since it involved making pieces where the vowels gave
> emotional content appropriate to the piece and also
> gave a pleasing or fitting melody by their associated
> pitches.  (I hope that made sense.)
>
It does to me :)) . It must be an interesting culture, where different pitches
are automatically connected to different feelings. They must have a great deal
of personalisation of natural sounds :) .

Please share us more about the grammar and the use of vowels! :)

Anyway, welcome again!

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.

Replies