Re: Zera and other conlangs

From: "Kenji Schwarz"

> A-ha!  For such a large conworld, some of the prime territory can still be
> fought over.  I'd originally thought of locating the Sayat-speakers
> someplace near there, either on Sakhalin or on the mainland, in the
> Sikhote Alin range or along the Ussuri basin.  In the end I decided not to
> do that (it wasn't remote enough, and I wanted them to have more political
> autonomy in the modern age), but I still regret it.  Perhaps the
> Gearthnuns-speakers can be slotted in with the Sayat and Boreanesians (if
> not the Nowans, too) as a sort of Pacific Conlang League?
I had originally thought of plunking them off Sakhalin myself, but didn't
want my beloved speakers knee-deep in permafrost or extended winters. I
would hope that, with the island being in the same range as Hokkaido which
has four seasons, my group is exposed to a climate similar to New England's
without actually setting them here.

From Matt Pearson:

> The Gearthnuns must have seen some action during World War II.
> Were they occupied by the Japanese, or the Soviets, or both?
> Did they fight in the war?
I'm much more concerned with the lang right now than the land. Since
Géarthnuns started out as a personal lang, the mise en scène I've selected
is more to explain my relationship to the lang than the lang's (or land's)
relationship to anything else. To wit, climate akin to New England's (my
home turf) (but with a healthy dose of bamboo), near China and Japan (where
I've lived for thirteen years and which has an impact on the Weltanshauung
of the lang), with an eastern trek to explain away features picked up along
the way from other languages (which I've studied or come in contact with) to
a modern industrial society. I realize that to explain an island with such a
location unimpacted by certain historical realities is a bit of a pollyanna
reach -- perhaps the island *will* have to yaw in and out of "here" -- but
for now it's just an extension of my personality and fantasy life. One can
talk in Géarthnuns about the G8, computers, the bomb, and dishwashers as
well as the Black Death, chalices, doric columns, and the Tao -- none of
these are "alien" to the culture, hence why it's "here". WWII, while
Géarthnuns speakers can certainly talk about it, will have to wait.

Kou