Re: Is conlang a generator of conlangers? or a sustainer? (was: Oops!)

Sally Caves wrote:

> So, Christophe, it was studying a foreign language (and a dead one at that
> with a complicated grammar) that gave you the idea to create your own?
> This brings up another very rich question (I said this would be my last,
> but oops I lied)... and that is: are almost all of us conlangers because
> we caught the virus independently, or are there a growing number of
> conlangers who have been inspired to create because they joined the list?
> Now this would add fuel to my idea that an electronic network has not only
> made an excellent forum for us, but is actually generating a new hobby.
I think this would be a fascinating thing to find out.  It seems to mehighly likely that
this is true, as almost all of us have admitted to some
sort of prejudice because of the "vice" which we carry on, indeed,
to the rest of the world, in "secret".  The net gives us a chance to communicate
our ideas with others who are likeminded, and allows us not just that,
but to build a sense of community which, as others have pointed out,
the regular world would prohibit merely because of the diffused nature
of our members.  For any discipline or human activity, group oriented
action is necessary to have any real progress in the activity, and this
medium has provided us just that.

> My other question:  how much was Tolkien an influence on your decision to
> invent a language?  I'm made curious by your story, Christophe, since it
> mirrors my own (Spanish being the instigation).  I only learned about
> Tolkien's books years after I had begun writing down early T.  and
> starting a grammar.  This was my reaction:  stunned disbelief, joy, and
> sullen resentment.  How could he do this to me?  How could he not only
> create a language that was far more complex and beautiful than mine, but
> also publish it and become famous?  With a gorgeous script to boot? I was
> fourteen. Tolkien then sustained me and determined me, but he didn't give
> me the idea.  Other folks have the same experience?  Sorry if I'm
> generating just another FAQ.
Since the only book that I have read of his is _The Hobbit_, I can't really
say I've had any Tolkienian influence to speak of, except peripherally through
what I have read about him and his work.  I would have to say that my
exposure early on to various IALs was far more influential than any fictional
work, most especially Esperanto (but of course).

BTW, Sally, don't worry about asking all these questions about conlangers
and their experiences.  It's my experience that metalinguistics (or metastudies
in general) are usually just as interesting as the studies themselves.  Metaconlanging
is right up there, in my estimation, so keep asking those questions! I am very
interested in what's going on.

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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

"Why should men quarrel here, where all possess /
as much as they can hope for by success?"
 - Quivera, _The Indian Queen_ by Henry Purcell
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