Re: Lunatic Survey

Sally Caves 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 don't know what "peersonal" means.  ;-)  But seriously, extremely.
I've told one other person, and several others have come close to
finding out, but for some reason I feel a need to hide it (Tolkien was
right when he called it "the secret vice".

>         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?
I'd say that the Net re-awakened my conlang interest.  I had had one,
but then it faded away, but the Net sparked it anew.

As for actually working on it and making it public, I'd have to say that
this has been quite a motivator.

>         3)  How many of you, in mentioning your conlang to an
> acquaintance, received a belittling reply?  Condescension?  Disapproval?
Just an odd look.

>         4)  How many of you are:
Undergraduate in Linguistics.

>         4a) What is your profession, or your desired profession?
I dunno.  Probably something in Linguistics.

>         5)  How many of you have invented a language because
>
>                 a) you are solely interested in language experiments
>                    and linguistics?
>
>                         i) for personal experiments...
Partly for this reason.  Also, it sometimes helps to understand an idea
or theory.

>                 b) you are interested in world-building
>                         iii) just for your own amusement?
That's another factor.

>         5) How many of you take the time to learn another's conlang?
I've considered it, but there's just so gosh darn many.

>         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]
I s'pose I wouldn't mind.  There is a bit of that "pornography" idea,
tho, in the embarrassment to talk about it.  Hmm ... I wonder if
anyone's *written* porn in a conlang?  ;-)  'Twould probably be
impossible in W., since they don't have the needed words.

>         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?
Exoticness within possibility is a must.  A simple relex of English is
*dull*, IMHO.  I like to combine facets of various 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?
It's just a good mental diversion.  I also hope to work on a translation
of at least parts of the Bible, as a spiritual exercise.  I've already
done some preliminary translations of Psalms 1 and 23.  Had to almost
double the paltry vocabulary for those!  I like the word I created for
shepherd: sipalawa'dha = si'pa (sheep) + lawa'dha (caretaker of an
animal, herder), a nice fusion of English and native vocabulary.

--
"Public media should not contain explicit or implied descriptions of sex
acts.  Our society should be purged of the perverts who provide the
media with pornographic material while pretending it has some redeeming
social value under the public's 'right to know.'" - Kenneth Star, 1987
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