Re: Alexiteca, _Aalexsit'exaa_ /a.leksi.th_heka/, version 1.0

In a message dated 3/22/02 10.42.29 PM, christophe.grandsire@FREE.FR quotes
me & writes:

>En réponse �  J Y S Czhang <czhang23@...>:
>
>>     Inspired by recent phonological discussions and an article (with
>> beautiful photos) on Egypt's new Bibliotheca Alexandrina [in the April
>> 2002 issue of _Smithsonian_ magazine], my ever-mutating _linga-lego-lila_
>> ("language-word-play") project is now Alexiteca, _ Aalexsit'exaa _
>> /a.leksi.th_heka/ - "a/the--word(s)--bag/case/container" ;) serious
>> and playful at the same time >:}
>
>:))) How many times are you gonna change its name more? :)))
    *erp* erh? Crikey, hmm, I must seem like the _most_ capricious,
indecisive shapeshifting ConLanger on the list, eh? (Don't take a bloody
poll, please... ::goes to his knees, begging::)
    Seriously, I am quite happily settling-in-&-colonizing this
"aardvark"-ish named conlang ;)
    Finding a lotta "bugs" in Aalexsit'exaa's embryonic system, I am now
revising & fine-tuning the phonetic & orthographic aspects to make a more
finished phonology (my initial email was more like a "crude, incomplete
rough-sketch." [To Dirk, who would likely say it was just an inventory of
sounds:  _mea culpa_! _sacre Yves Klein Bleu_! I should know better] ...
Hehe, watch for an Aalexsit'exaa, version 1.1 soon...)

>I like this pun though.
[ref: Aalexsit'exaa meaning "a/the--word(s)--bag/case/container"]

    Thanx! Prob'ly an Itakian influence via a certain French-Nederlander ;)
And spirit possession by the almost-mighty Aardvark Avatar, awkward
god-at-large to conlangers who suffer severe mood swings betwixt depressing
brain-farts and manic binges of linguistic tweaking.

>>     Aalexsit'exaa is to be created from modified roots and words mainly
from
>> Greek & Latin, with some modified items from Sanskrit, Romanized Arabic,
>> Japanese, and other languages. Basically, Aalexsit'exaa is an Indo-European
>> polyglot * with its own distinctive phonology and orthography ( * sort of
>> like English is a Germanic polyglot, but unlike English, Aalexsit'exaa
>> is _possibly_ more phonetic -and- aesthetically intriguing  };)
>
>And more fun? :)
    _Possibly_ "serious Fun" - with a Capitalized F.

 <ZNiP>

>I personally find the 'x' for /k/ nice. Some influence from the Greek
alphabet
>creeping in?
    How else to have lots of 'x's in my Aalexsit'exaa? ;)  And I get to spell
"chaos" as  _xaoz_ or _xaos_ (I am still kinda undecided)!!!

>>     VOWELS, other LIQUIDS, RHOTICS, etc.:
>>     >> NOTE:
>>     schwa /@/ is  _ ' _ initially;
    Nix that!!!
    /@/ is _a_, since Aalexsit'exaa already has _aa_ for /a/!!!
    ::smacks self on head with rubber aardvark - repeatedly::
    How else to have the _au_ /@U/ diphthong and thus be able to write _Aum_
, "Om" /@Um/?  ;)
    IIRC, "Aum" is the older Romanization of the Sanskrit or is it just an
alternative spelling?

    amended notes on Aalexit'exaa phonotactics (rough, preliminary ideas) &
vowel inventory:

    Vowels are pronounced individually, each form the nucleus for their own
syllable.
    By using liquids, approximants, retroflexes, schwas, rhotics and/or
aspirates, it is conceivable that a syllable can take nearly any form - thus
Aalexit'exaa can be quite flexible in phoneticizing/assimilating (short)
interesting word-roots from other languages as well as creating new _ad hoc_
forms, "motivated root-creations."

VOWELS, other LIQUIDS, RHOTICS, etc.:

i           u                   ee            oo
      U                             ü
e         o                     e         o
    @                               _a_ or _:r_
    3`                              rr
    a                           aa

    schwa /@/ is _ a _  or _:r_  when when schwa is before “r”, i.e.
“-er-”,”-ir-” & “-or-” in original language’s orthographies, etc.

    _ rr _ if stressed, it is rhoticized /"@`/ or pronounced /"@3`/or /"@r\`/
    In all cases - if necessary, the schwa sound can be substituted by
"simpler"/a/ sound or - if stressed - by aspiration of the letter immediately
before it

    etc:
    voiced labial-velar approximant, semi-vowel /w/  _w_

>Aspiration?! Now that's a strange idea! A subtle connection between /@/
>and /h/?
    It's a great strategy for making a somewhat-flexible, user-friendly
phonology(& its orthography) IMHO to cope with _really_ difficult consonant
clusters and also a nice effect in a basically spartan, minimalistic
phonology * (I cobbled it together based on Richard Harrison's and Rick
Moreanu's NatLang data on "easiest"-phonemes-to-pronounce and then tossed in
a few "spicy" dissonant notes as counterpoint to the basic harmony ... I
think I want a just a couple more simple "rough, cracked" sound-colours and
timbres tho'. Suggestions?).

    * One of the connotations of the Japanese Zen concept of _wabi_ /"wQbI/
is that of a cultivated naturalness and minimalistic, stark poetic purity -
"perfect imperfection/imperfect perfection": simple, one-of-a-kind, roughly
created, asymmetrical, plainly coloured, deliberately cracked and flawed by
the very processes of creation (working with/mimicking Nature), "Appropriate
Tech/High Touch," etc.
-versus-  overly-complicated, mass-produced, smoothly "Techno-Fashioned,"
symmetrical, garishly excessive, sleek/slick like steel and glass (shaping
and imposing on Nature), "HyperModernism"/"Techno-Style," etc.

Hanuman Zhang  {HANoomaan JAHng} /'hanuma~n  dZa'hN/
~§~
Sometimes the difference between noise and music is all in your head
~§~
    _NADA BRAHMA_= < from Sanskrit > "sound is god[head]"/"god[head] is sound"
anavriti shabdat => "Liberation by sound."
"I like the fact that listen is an anagram of silent." ~ Alfred Brendel
    OM ... Om Tat Sat... Tat Tvam Asi... OM

Reply