Re: Lunatic Survey
| From: | Sylvia Sotomayor <sylvia1@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Saturday, September 26, 1998, 19:44 |
|---|
At 04:06 AM 9/25/98 +0000, you wrote:
>THE SURVEY:
>
> 1) To what extent is your conlang an "intensely peersonal"
>pursuit--one that you don't often reveal to people other than conlangers?
I tend to keep it very private, that is until recently, when I put some of
it on my web page. My family doesn't know about it, I don't think, but
several of my friends do. Their reactions vary from dismissive bemusement
to "Hey, that's cool, will you teach it to me?" to which I don't really
have an answer. I've never really made an attempt to teach it to anyone.
I did discuss it with my fellow students and other people at the
linguistics department at Berkeley, but not to any great extent. One grad
student there got to know a little more about it, and I would sometimes
leave a message in my script on the blackboard for him. (Which was once
discovered by a visiting Slavic scholar, who according to the reports I
got, stood in front of the blackboard for an hour or so trying to figure
out which slavic script the message was written in.)
>
> 2) If so, to what extent do you feel that the listserv "Conlang"
>has given you a _raison d'etre_ for
>
> a) pursuing your invented language
> b) making it public?
It's nice to know there are other, um, "lunatics" out there.
> 3) How many of you, in mentioning your conlang to an
>acquaintance, received a belittling reply? Condescension? Disapproval?
Bemusement more than anything else. Sort of an "Okay, well if that's your
thing..."
>
> 4) How many of you are:
>
> a) high school students or younger?
> b) undergraduates?
> c) graduates?
> c) out of school altogether and supporting yourselves?
> d) Not in school, never went?
>
I'd have to pick c)
> 4a) What is your profession, or your desired profession?
Currently I'm in the academic marketing department of a major publisher.
Who knows where I'll be 5 years from now.
> 5) How many of you have invented a language because
>
> a) you are solely interested in language experiments
> and linguistics?
>
> i) for personal experiments...
> ii) because you like participating in the
> development of an auxiliary language and its
> socio-political effects?
>
> b) you are interested in world-building
>
> i) for fiction
> ii) for role-playing and other social activities
> iii) just for your own amusement?
I started my language when I was young, maybe 13 or so. It started as a
fantasy dreamland filled with elf-like people who had to speak something...
It has changed a lot since then. For a while the language existed on its
own, but then every language needs someone to speak it, so I got back into
worldbuilding. But, as this all stayed in my head, I never expected to use
it for anything other than my own personal amusement.
>
> 5) How many of you take the time to learn another's conlang?
Sorry. Several natural languages are a higher priority than anyone's
conlang, especially as I can't particularly speak my own. I just like to
play with it.
> 6) How many of you are women?
I am.
> 7) Who is lurking period? [these questions I don't expect
> public answers to--if any answers--but I ask it anyway
> to see what happens]
>
> 7a) If you are women and you are lurking, why are you not
>contributing? This is a shamefully gendered question, but gender and
>participation has been raised, and I'm curious.
I lurk mostly from lack of time to really pursue these things, and because
only rarely do I have an answer to anyone's queries.
> 8) Which of you would give me permission to (or object to) my
>mentioning your conlang and webpage (if any) at a convention, in an
>academic article? I'll protect names if so desired [as though this is
>writing pornography!-- now there's something]
You have my permission to use my name and refer to my language if you wish.
> 9) For how many of you is "exoticness" in your invented language
>and absolute must? How many of you pursue more familiar models... and
>why to both?
Mine is fairly exotic. For one thing, I've tried to invent a language that
cannot be a human language. I've done some research into language
universals and think I may have achieved something, but... I am human after
all, so maybe I haven't succeeded.
> 9) FINALLY: what is the appeal of an invented language for you?
>Wherein is its "sexiness"? Its spirituality? its sensuality? What keeps
>you at it? How does it benefit you? Does it harm you? heal you?
It's fun, it's interesting, it gives me hours of intellectual amusement. It
gives a focus to my private research.
>Many thanks.
>
>Sally
>
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Sally Caves
>scaves@frontiernet.net
>
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/teonaht.html
>
> Mr. Book: "Shut it down!"
> _Dark City_
>
> Christof: "Cue the sun!"
> _The Truman Show_
>
>Tehwo tsema brondi laz obil hea nomai pendo
>"Summer like a white sword hangs over the land."
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Clearly obsolete now...
>