Re: CHAT: t-shirt

Lars Mathiesen wrote:
"No Lingua Ignota, no SolReSol, no Volapu"k, no Esperanto, no Glosa. No
Novial, Speedwords"

Raymond Brown responded:
"I agree on no Glosa, no Novial & no Speedwords.  Their inventors are not on
this list and these languages are little known outside of the
conlang/auxlang worlds."

and David Bell added:
"Well, I don't think Hildegard ever intended that Lingua Ignota would be an
auxlang, but not enough is known about it (its not called Lingua Ignota for
nothing! :-)) for anyone to construct a coherent sentence anyway, so that
point is moot.  A shame, however, as she may well have been the first
documented conlanger, making Lingua Ignota interesting from an historic
perspective.   SolReSol certainly has an aesthetic appeal and would surely
garner inquiry.  I fear the inclusion of either Esperanto or Volapuek would
open the floodgates, however."

   I would be more than willing to contribute something meaningful from
Bala-i-balan.  Even though I am not the inventor of this language (the
inventor was an Islamic schismatic by the name of Muheddin) and it was never
very "successful" (even by the ridiculous standards with which people judge
IAL success), Bala-i-balan is an excellent candidate for several compelling
reasons:
    A) dating from the 16th century, it is one of the oldest conlangs, if
not the OLDEST _true_ conlang (as A. Bausani would have it).
    B) It is one of a handful of conlangs which were not developed within
the orbit of "western civilization."  Its lexicon is derived from Persian,
Turkish, and Arabic, its grammar is modelled on Turkish grammar, and it uses
Arabic syntax; hence it would, IMNSHO, add much needed diversity to the
stock of dead white men's playthings which dominate the conlang industry.
    C) From an aesthetic point of view, Bala-i-balan is "different" - it is
written using the Arabic script.  I think that this aspect alone will make
it somewhat eye-catching.

    The only impediment to my supplying a sample of Balaibalan is the
Dumbarton Oaks Libary in Washington, D.C.  They can be rather catty about
lending their books to other institutions, even if these other institutions
happen to own them (ahem).
    So, what do you say?  Assuming that I can get the requisite materials
out of storage and you give me a sentence, I may be able to provide the
T-Shirt with a sample of the oldest complete constructed language.  And that
would be something.
-Chollie
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