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USAGE: (Mis)Naming a Language

From:David Peterson <thatbluecat@...>
Date:Wednesday, October 27, 2004, 19:43
Hi all,

I'm still offlist, but I thought I'd bring up something that happened
to me.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from a lecturer at CSU Sacramento
(a.k.a., Sac State--the rivals of the UC Davis Aggies) asking about
languages that have a drum register.   [In Africa, certain tone
Bantu languages can be whistled or drummed, since they have
rules about tonal phrasal patterns.   They can't communicate *completely*,
but they can do a lot.]   Anyway, this professor specifically wanted
some phrases from a language called Kele.   This is because,
unbeknownst to me, there's a tone Bantu language called "Kele".
Undoubtedly, he found me on the internet because of my
language, which I called "Kele":

http://dedalvs.free.fr/kele/

I gave him some info on who he could talk to to get some info
on the real Kele, but I'm a little put out that I unintentionally
mislead someone.

So, my question: Has something similar happened to anyone
else?   And, do you think I should change the name of the
language?   Would you, in this situation?   Also, what if someone
created a language with a name like Teonaht, not knowing
that one already existed, and (with no disrespect to this
imaginary person) was far better?

You don't have to reply offlist; I'll follow the thread via the
archives.

-David
*******************************************************************
"sunly eleSkarez ygralleryf ydZZixelje je ox2mejze."
"No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."

-Jim Morrison

http://dedalvs.free.fr/

Replies

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