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Re: "Kitchen sink conlang" and other such terms

From:Jim Henry <jimhenry1973@...>
Date:Friday, August 8, 2008, 20:39
On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 4:06 PM, David J. Peterson <dedalvs@...> wrote:
> Jeff: > << > The term "kitchen sink conlang" (or KSC, not to be confused with KFC) seems > to be used mainly on ZBB; it could have originated there. If so, the > earliest >>>
> I don't think so. I knew the term before the ZBB existed, and > I'm sure I heard it here. Check out these messages from 2000:
> Jim Grossman: > Item #27951 (27 Jun 2000 12:34) - help with starting out > help you focus your efforts, and limit the temptation to throw absolutely > everything including the kitchen sink into your grammar.
This first one is relevant; the other one refers to a case in Romanian that covers a passel of disparate theta roles, not a conlang with a passel of disparate features. Searching archives.conlang.info for "kitchen sink" turns up a number of uses of this term in one form or another (mostly "kitchen sink language" rather than "kitchen sink conlang" which was what I searched for originally). I haven't found any earlier than 2000, but the archives only go back to 1998. (John Cowan used to have most of the 1991-1998 archives on his web page, but they're gone now. Does anyone have them elsewhere?) These messages seem particularly relevant in discussing what is and isn't a kitchen sink conlang, one re: Ithkuil, the other re Tech: http://archives.conlang.info/qu/jhaulgia/zonqhialthuan.html http://archives.conlang.info/fhae/woetu/koenfualfhuen.html -- Jim Henry http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenry/

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Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>