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

On Thu, 8 Oct 1998, 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 could answer yes to both those questions, I think.  I started
Doraya long before I joined CONLANG.  In that sense, I 'caught the virus'
on my own.  However, if I hadn't joined CONLANG, my interest in the hobby
might have dwindled.  I certainly wouldn't have developed Doraya to the
state it's in currently and I probably wouldn't have started too many
other projects either.

> My other question:  how much was Tolkien an influence on your decision to
> invent a language?
>
        For me, he was the primary influence.  I read the Hobbit in fourth
grade and LotR shortly after; it was only after I read those books that I
started to develop a taste for languages and world-building.  As far as I
can remember, learning about actual languages (mostly French, during my
first conlanging excursions) didn't affect my interest in inventing
languages at all -- it was almost the other way around.  I wanted to learn
new languages so I could invent more realistic ones.  In fact, I might be
tempted to attribute my entire interest in languages to Tolkien. :)
        It's also interesting that I actually found out about the conlang
list through the tolklang list, one of the first lists that I subscribed
to when I first got on the Internet.  Joining the conlang list was a major
maturing factor for me, especially as I got to know the languages of the
other people on the list (particularly Greg Higley's language Inda --
anyone know what happened to him or Inda?).
        So, in sum, Tolkien gave me the virus, and conlang prevented me
from finding a cure.  I've never had a better disease in my life. :)

--
Adam Parrish                   "A friend of mine once told me that the
myth@inquo.net                 best way to understand teenagers was to
http://www.inquo.net/~myth/    think of them as constantly on LSD.  It was
                               good advice." -- Mary Pipher