Re: Introduction; need advice

----- Original Message -----
From: "Quentin Read" <quonton79@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 4:54 PM
Subject: Introduction; need advice


> Hi, I'd like to introduce myself to this group.
Welcome!  This is a friendly group, so please feel free to share what you're
working on.

> My
> name is Quentin Read and I am a junior in highschool.
> I have dabbled in conlangs since 8th grade.  The first
> one I came up with was Ysthol ("our language.")  It
> was a bunch of bizarre-sounding words held together by
> an extremely sketchy grammar.  I used it to taunt
> people incomprehensibly, but gave it up after a couple
> of weeks.
In a recent survey of conlangs, reasons for making a language were
discussed.  I think taunting would be a new item on the list.

> In 10th grade, I came up with a new
> language: LanguFota.  (Fota meaning fake, as in
> Faux.)It was a very unoriginal language, with almost
> all the words being derived from Spanish.  I gave that
> one up after a while because it was boring and stale.
> In the past few months I have tried out a few ideas.
> I developed a language with all the roots randomly
> computer generated (has anyone else done that?) and am
> now working on 2 projects: SimIE, (Simplified
> Indo-European Language) and Ulm (a monosyllabic
> language).
I know a number of mine have randomly generated vocabularies, given their
own peculiar constraints on sound combinations.  Tell us more about these
languages of yours, particularly SimIE and Ulm, your current projects.

> So far I have translated the Our Father, the 23rd
> Psalm, the first part of Genesis, etc. into them.  I
> would like some advice about creating conlangs.
> So far I have madea basic vocabulary, the alphabet,
> the rules of grammar,and a few translations.
If you want to expand your vocabulary, and possibly your grammar, try
translating Aidan Grey's weekly vocab sheets.  They're at:

http://frath.net/language/vocab.shtml

If you want to expand your grammar, try translating a larger work, or
writing one of your own.  Can you describe the writing system you have a bit
more?  Writing systems are always interesting.

> What
> should I do now?  I don't want this to fizzle out
> like my other ones.  I need some direction.
Are you using any of these languages in a constructed world or culture, or
just as languages by themselves?  If there's a culture to go with them, you
might try writing up some things that would be applicable for that culture.
If it's just for real world use, try using it in more everyday situations.
Make cards labeling things around the house in it.  Sure, it'll get weird
looks, but you just have to expect that.

> Also what
> are some basic, widely recognized texts I can
> translate besides biblical ones?
There aren't any quite as widespread as the Bible, but there are some that
are certainly widely recognized.  What you choose to translate depends a lot
on your interests, and on the direction you intend to take this language in.
You could try translating something from the works of Confucius, or perhaps
Aristotle.  Any of the classics are easy to find.  I'm working on
translating Beowulf into one of my languages.  Maybe the Havamal?

> How much
> does one have to do before the conlang is considered
> complete?
This is an easy question.  It is complete when you have a community of
people speaking it, teaching it to their kids, and then eventually having it
pass out of use and become extinct.  You see, only dead languages are
"complete".  All living languages are still works in progress.

> Finally, where can I get fonts for
> characters I need?
Are these characters in your own writing system?  If so, you'll just have to
make up your own font.  I've used Softy, a good shareware font editor.
There are some better ones out there, but they tend to charge you for them.
If you're looking for characters in an already existing writing system,
they're easy to find - where depends on what writing system it is.

> I would appreciate any
> advice.
> -Quentin Read
> Durham, North Carolina
Please tell us some more about your language projects.  As I said, this is a
friendly group, so don't worry if your projects aren't exactly 'finished'
yet.

Joe Fatula

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