Re: Lost in Space....err, Time

On Tue, 2 Feb 1999, Steg Belsky wrote:

> Hi,
>
> The more that i've been using my conlang Rokbeigalmki the more i keep on
> slipping unintentionally back and forth between different stages of the
> language.
> This especially happens when i'm writing, when in the middle of a word
> written in Original Ziifer script i may write a letter in Modern Rokb.
> script, etc.
> This also happens with regard to the language itself.....in the Psych
> section of my looseleaf, i was writing my headings in Rokbeigalmki, and
> instead of translating "Language Acquisition" (how fitting :) ) as
> _datein tza'lesna_ it came out as _lesnatza datein_, an Ancient form.
> I've also been dropping _wa'_ "to" in certain phrases, although i'm not
> sure if this is a characteristic of the Ancient stage or the Modern
> (Future) stage.  It could just be an influence from English, though,
> especially in the sentence _azoi-kaun wa'khaz_ "i am able to see" vs.
> _azoi-kaun khaz_ "i can see"(?), literally "i can (=am able) sight".
>
> Does this happen to anyone else?
>
>
> -Stephen (Steg)
>  "hhalomot zeh b'emet"
Before Shinndalo standardized the determinates for heads and limbs in
Shemdaoli, common words were often written without determinates.  Parts
of the body and weather conditions, for instance, often dropped
determinates when context was otherwise clear.

Now and then words still drop their determinates in common usage.  For
instance, the proper word for friend (in Shinndaloli -- "Shingda's
language") is "dita" (friend-person).  However, one more often sees "di"
when refering to a friend.

It's not a serious problem, merely the difficulty of dragging an ancient
language into modernity.  Shinndalo was quite impressed with the
artificiality of Shekm, the neighboring empire to the south, and tried to
incorporate his own brand of artificiality -- a somewhat surprisingly
successful attempt.  One cannot, however, be surprised at the backsliding
after his death.

--Pat