McGuffey Project Update: 172 Sentences

I'm really surprised at how quickly a conlang begin to
take shape when a good set of target sentences is at
hand.  I've already translated 172 McGuffey sentences
into Tazhu, the new conlang I'm creating from scratch.

A few words have changed when I later discovered
better ones, and some of the grammar is also in flux,
which is to be expected in a language that is only
three days old. But I've seen more solid progress in
those three days than I am accustomed to seeing in
weeks of work on a new conlang.

It's not the greatest or most unique or intersting
conlang in the world, but it will soon become the most
complete conlang I've ever tackled, thanks to Mr.
McGuffey.

What I found really interesting is that when reading
the sentences from a few days ago I immediately
spotted some grammatical errors I had made, not
because I knew intelectually that I had used the wrong
case, but because it instinctively sounded wrong.
This tells me I'm already developing an ear for the
language which will be of inestimable value in
grinding and polishing the rough edges.

I find I can translate the review sentences at the end
of each section as quickly and easily as I could write
them in English, and without reference back to the
lexicon or grammar notes. This because the
transalation of the section itself gave me lots of
drill in the vocabulary and grammar.

Some of my early sentences also tended to sound a bit
like relexing of English (or relexing or Latin or
Spanish), but that tendancy is fading away as the
language begins to evolve its own voice; its own
unique way of putting thoughts together.

As always, you can follow along, or take a look at my
web page where I document my insanity at
http://fiziwig.com/tazhu.html

Comments, suggestions and criticisms are always warmly
welcomed.

--gary

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