Re: The magic of conlang (was: Has anyone made a real conlang?)

On Tue, Apr 22, 2003 at 09:12:34PM +0200, Harald Stoiber wrote:
[snip]
> Creating languages is also learning to think for a second time. It is about
> meaning, about redundancy, about hidden distinctions that we would never
> discover by just using our existent languages which we are perfectly used
> to.
Exactly.

[snip]
> Creating languages is learning to speak for a second time - and to hear!
> Since I have started conlanging in March last year, my ears are much more
> (actually: much much much more ;-) perceptive for the beauty of the spoken
> word.
It also trains your ears to hear distinctions not present in your L1.

> It is very much like the difference in hearing music between a musician
> and somebody who only "utilizes" music as a tool to have something nice
> playing. For a whole-hearted musician it is wow rather than just nice.
> And so it is for the passionate conlanger. :-))
Yep. As a hobbyist musician myself, I get a kick out of certain chord
progressions, which the untrained ear may perhaps only hear as "oh that's
kinda nice". For me, it's like an electric jolt. I have regularly caught
myself listening for the bassline in accompanying background music that
nobody else notices, and noticing, hey that's a beautiful way of doubling
a flute with a clarinet!, etc.

> I think that most of the debate simply points out the key difference
> between craftsmanship and art. The craftsman is only satisfied if the
> outcome is a practical advantage whereas the artist only rejoyces if the
> outcome is well-formed, elegant and beautiful in its own right,
> absolutely free and originally independent of any justification
> regarding the resulting masterpiece.
That's very true.

> Oh may the craftsman respect the artist and may all the gentle artists
> forgive the craftsman if he knocks to loudly with his hammer at the
> walls of their ivory towers! *gggg*
Gentle artists? LOL... we sound like the artistic mob. :-P

> I feel grateful that I am allowed and able to create languages. And
> sometimes even non-artistic benefits stem from conlanging. While musing
> about how to represent the relations of adjectives, adverbs and nouns, I
> accidently discovered a significant improvement to an already patented
> data storage algorithm which I had invented earlier. From this day on I
> have been convinced that actually no software engineer can seriously
> afford to stay away from conlanging. *ggg* It's inspiring!!! :-))))
[snip]

For me, it's a way for me to finally find words to express those
inexpressible feelings I have, that cannot be adequately expressed by any
natlang I know.


T

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