On Fri, 25 Sep 1998 00:06:45 -0400, Sally Caves <scaves@...>
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?
None.
> 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?
>
> 3) How many of you, in mentioning your conlang to an
>acquaintance, received a belittling reply? Condescension? Disapproval?
>
> 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?
The second c.
> 4a) What is your profession, or your desired profession?
Computer programmer
> 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?
a) i.
> b) you are interested in world-building
>
> i) for fiction
> ii) for role-playing and other social activities
> iii) just for your own amusement?
b) all three.
> 5) How many of you take the time to learn another's conlang?
I've learned the basics of Esperanto and Lojban, as well as trying to
figure out Sindarin and Quenya, and the fragments of language spoken by =
H.
Beam Piper's Fuzzies.
> 6) How many of you are women?
>
> 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.
>
> 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. My main language page (from which you can get to
most of the languages that I currently have on the web) is:
http://www.io.com/~hmiller/languages.html
> 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?
I like both kinds of languages. Alien languages, to be believable as =
alien
languages, should be exotic. But not all of my projects are intended to =
be
alien languages.
> 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?
I've always been interested in languages; more generally, in sounds =
(music,
bird songs, etc.) Inventing a language started as part of creating a
setting for science-fiction / fantasy worlds, but grew to become an
interest in itself.