Re: USAGE: (Mis)Naming a Language

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 16:58:04 -0400, Sally Caves <scaves@...>
wrote:
>
> "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?"
>
> :)  Off with their heads!!
>
> I'd say that in the case of invented languages, the original inventor,
> i.e., whose language has been in circulation longer on CONLANG, has dibs
> on the name, regardless of whether it or the newly named language were
> better than the other.  That part's irrelevant.  But If someone created
> a language that was much better than mine and called it Teonaht, heh heh,
> I'd ask them to change the name and join me in Teon!
>
> The situation you describe is more of a bother because Kele is the name
> of a natural language.  Hoo boy.  What a troubling coincidence.  I'd say
> that you'd have to capitulate to the status of the natural language and
> its name, which has been around longer than you have been inventing.
> Since a scholar did misunderstand you, you might be forced to modify the
> spelling.  But what a pain.  I think I made the spelling of Teonaht
> deliberately eccentric so that it would stand out as invented, unique...
> although I was not consciously aware at the time of this particular
> problem you describe.
These days, googling before settling on a particular name will eliminate a
lot of the potential conflicts. In this case I endorse your suggestion of
changing the spelling, if possible, since David is bothered by it.

> Which moves me to wonder whether there are any separate natural
> languages that share the same name?  There have to be, given how many
> there are and have been in the world.
I remember reading (in some book that attempted to classify all known
natlangs) that there was a name used by 3 different languages (in Africa,
New Guinea, and South America, or something like that). It was a short
name, maybe only 4 letters.

>
> Sally
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: David Peterson
>  To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
>  Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 3:43 PM
>  Subject: (Mis)Naming a Language
>
>  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/
<remark type="smartass">At least he didn't ask if a language called
Kelerinete had a clarion register.</remark> -- Sorry, I couldn't resist!

>  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/
Jeff

current music: "Can You Hear the Drums, Fernando" or whatever that song is
called.

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