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

Sally Caves wrote:
> 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?
An interesting question. Is there anyone out there who ran into the list
by chance and then caught the bug??

> My other question:  how much was Tolkien an influence on your decision to
> invent a language?
Not at all. Alongside learning a lot about linguistics, this has been
one of the major revelations for me since joining the list. I never saw
conlangs as connected to fantasy or SF - I know it may seem strange to
many of you, but for me conlangs were about reality, politics and
personal identity (as I tried to explain in my response to the lunatic
survey). I did draw lots of maps of imaginary countries when I was
young, and sometimes drew place names from my conlangs, but the two
activities were distinct for me.
I was vaguely aware of Tolkien and looked at the letters in my father's
copy once or twice, but never read the books as they just didn't
interest me that much. Maybe this is connected to the fact that Tesk, my
main conlang, and my other efforts when I was younger were largely about
blending elements and forms from different natlangs.


        Shaul Vardi