Re: "Usefull languages"

In a message dated 2002.02.12 01.58.25 PM, florian.rivoal@ENS.INSA-RENNES.FR
writes:

>Please tell me what you think interstng in nat langs you know.
>
    5 of my favourite Intriguin' NatLangs are:

        ~ ~ ~ 1} Bislama [also known as "Beche-Le-Mer"/"Bichelamar"] = one of
3 official national languages of the Republic of Vanuatu (English and French
being the other 2). Bislama has gone from being an English-lexifier pidgin to
being a creole (Bislama is related to Papua New Guinea's Tok Pisin, another
nation's creole/official language).
    One - purely whimsical - reason I like this NatLang is that it is named
after an edible sea slug - which happens to be a majorly favourite seafood of
mine & other Chinese ::salivatin'::  ;P~~
    Another reason is that Bislama happens to exist in "one of the most
linguistically diverse regions anywhere in the world" (_Lonely Planet Pidgin
Phrasebook: Pidgin Languages of Oceania_, p. 13) which makes Bislama rather
intriguin' in its implications in regards to the creation of *GASP!* AuxLangs
- or in this list's case, ConAuxLangs: "It would be ironic if the answer to
Babel were pidgin and not Pentecost." (George Steiner, _After Babel: Aspects
of Language & Translation_)
    Purely linguistic reasons are that Bislama is IMHO a great example of a
language functioning with a rather limited lexicon (sorta like BASIC English
but better ;) and much more "poetic", "imagistic") and it has a very
forgiving, user-friendly phonemic spelling system; i.e.:
         "index finger" is _nambawan fingga_;
        "revolver" is _han gan_;
        "nuclear free zone" is _eria we i tabu long karem ol niuklia samting
i kam insaed long hem_;
        "science" is _saens_ and "scientific" is _folem fasin blong saens_
and "computer science" is _saens blong kompiuta_ ;
        "revolution" is _fasin blong jenisim evri sistem blong gavman wantaem
nomo_ ;
        "synthesizer" [musical] is _lektrik (miusik) kibod_ & "electronic
music" is either _lektrik (saon) miusik_ or _lektronik (saon) miusik_.
    Bislama is IMHO the best (& one of the most extreme) of the
"Mutant/Mutating Englishes."

    ~ ~ ~ 2} Chinese Pidgin English (CPE) & it's direct descendant _Ham Soi_
(Nauruan Chinese Pidgin English)... For the past 2 years, I have been
collecting more materials and sources as I can on CPE and _Ham Soi_. I
currently have very little on CPE; practically nothing on _Ham Soi_. I wish
to preserve sat least some of _Ham Soi_ before all the speakers/users of it
disappear. I just don't have the resources - linguistically, financially and
otherwise...
    A Chinese friend asked me why I am interested in CPE and _Ham Soi_ as
these languages are cosidered by Chinese to be "bastard tongues" loaded with
the "pain of the Opium Wars, Hong Kong, ShangHai'ing, Blackbirding and the
exploitation of Coolies." I  grinned wickedly & retorted, "Exactly why it
needs to be preserved and even revived."

    ~ ~ ~ 3} Bahasa Indonesia -  a) simple "minimalistic" syntax   b) simple
Romanized orthography based on fairly simple phonology  c) it's a major South
East Asian language  d) I have relatives in Indonesia and Malaysia   e) very
poetic/imagistic language  f) IIRC Mathias' ConLang Tunu is based somewhat
directly on Bahasa Indonesia (I vaguely recall that there is another ConLang
is based loosely on Bahasa Indonesia as well).

    ~~~ 4} Archaic Chinese - I am just getting into Archaic Chinese - mainly
for the syntax system and it's Oracle Bone writing. I am esp'ly intrigued
with Archaic Chinese's multivalent use of just 2 prepositions. The ancient
Chinese writing seems to be "magickal" to me ;)

    ~~~5} "TechnoSpeak," International Scientific Vocabulary, "TechnoBabble",
etc. - neologistic word-creation and language based on use (and
abuse/mangling) of the combining forms of Pure Classical (Greek), Hybrid
Classical (Greco-Latinate), Hybrid Classical/Vernacular (Greco-Latinate &
usually polyglot English).
    This may not be a NatLang but it definitely is a subset of many NatLangs
today. And there is a high amount of neologistic, lingua-mangler fun (*) to
be had in this area IMHO ;)  &  it maybe even necessary.        (*) a la the
Futurists, Dadaists and Surrealists

czHANg23,
Avatar of Sun WuKong, a.k.a. "Monkey," a.k.a. "TricksterGod of the Han
Chinese"

~ om hung hanumatay rudratmakai hung phat ~
    - mantra to Hanuman the Hindu Monkey TricksterGod

        Hail to thee TricksterGods! IO THEE CHAOSGODHEAD!!!
        ~ thee Tru Pries ov Existenz iz Ætern'l Warfær & Creativ Playf'llniz~
                            - § - by hook or by crook - § -

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