Haraldr maelti:
> It is said that language is a mirror of its
> speaker's culture.
And verse visa. I.e., language and culture are
intertwined.
> In fact, this
> sounds so very true to me that I am even
> creating an entire world for
> my current conlang. On the other hand it seems
> to me that there are
> people on this list who don't create cultures
> when they create languages.
Well, there's no telling, with some people! ;)
> So my question to those fellow conlangers would
> be: Which culture do
> you mirror into your conlangs? Your native one?
In my opinion, my native country doesn't _have_
its own culture yet, really. Give it a few
centuries to settle in.
> Another existing culture
> that you deliberately choose?
Sometimes. Clearly, Kerno and Dumnonia are
supposed to mirror Cornwall a little.
> Or some ancient culture? Just curious...
Sometimes the mirroring come from in internal
desire: a mirroring of the culture that _should_
have existed in the primary world, but does not.
> Another solution to the problem could be to
> make a culturally neutral
> language -
SNORE!!! Wake me up when it's all over! ;)
> which sounds so extremely impossible
> that my writing fingers
> keep asking my brain if it really would like to
> even mention such a strange idea. *g*
It's impossible only in that we are, by nature,
cultural beings. The very _exsistence_ of a
language is presupposed by a culture.
It may be possible to extirpate some obviously
culture specific references or metaphores - but
excision of enough stuff to make a language
"culture free" will yield a nolanguage.
Padraic.
=====
beuyont alch geont la ciay la cina
mangeiont alch geont y faues la lima;
pe' ne m' molestyont
que faciont
doazque y facyont in rima.
.