Re: Books for conlangers
| From: | John Quijada <jq_ithkuil@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, September 9, 2005, 17:42 |
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=?UTF-8?Q?=E8=BD=A1=E8=99=AB_=28kutsuwamushi=29?= wrote:
>I'd like to compile a list of book recommendations for conlangers
>=========================================================================
In addition to the Payne book mentioned by Henrik, as well as any good
introduction to Phonetics and Phonology (I'm sure Peter Ladefoged's will
do), I would strongly recommend Lakoff and Johnson's "Metaphors We Live By"
which demonstrates how the lexico-semantic layer of natural languages is
far more dependent on metaphor than any native speaker realizes, and that
those metaphors are specific to individual language families and
languages. Personally, I don't see how anyone can accomplish the design of
a realistic-seeming natlang-style conlang without reading this book (unless
you don't mind all of your conlang's subconsciously-constructed lexico-
semantic metaphors to be suspiciously like those of your native language).
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