My New Project: Chromic

Hi,

First of all, I never introduced myself properly to this list. I'm a college
freshman in Lowell, MA, majoring in CS, but considering switching schools so
that I can major in linguistics, since I seem to have developed a greater
interest in it than I've ever had in computers. Spending all my time on the
computer, it turns out, does not necessarily imply that I'm interested in its
inner workings.

I've been working on and off on two separate projects. My first, Zhoa-Tongue
(the literal translation of the name), is a language extremely heavy on
inflection, yet without any grammaticalized number or tense. It's meant to be a
priori, so I'm combining characteristics that are not combined in any natlangs
that I know of. My second, Vampyral (a.k.a. Yet Another Vampire Language), has
an extremely strange phonolology in that my vampyr have no lower lip. Their
bilabials have become linguolabials, and their labiodentals have become
dentolabials (again, no natlang has these--lower teeth, upper lip).

Anyway, I'm putting those on hold because my newest project is actually going to
be used for something. For purposes of a collaborator's short story, I'm
creating a language with an orthographical system that implements color. I've
given it the provisional name Chromic, until the story and language are
developed enough to give it a proper name.

I have the orthography pretty much figured out, although I may make changes. The
really interesting thing is that, using ten letter shapes (P, F, T, S, K, Q, H,
macron, en-dash, underscore), I have a total of 55 phonemes.

Anyway, as soon as I have more of this language hashed out, I'll be posting an
outline on my website. My outlines are generally meant for my own benefit rather
than that of others, so it won't necessarily be easy to follow, but lessons may
come eventually.

- Ian Maxwell

---------------
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English
is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion,
English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and
rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James D. Nicoll

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