First Language Creation Conference

First Language Creation Conference
UC Berkeley - MLK 5th Floor - 23 April 2006 9am-5pm
Tickets $5-25 as able (no one refused for lack of funds)

FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO REGISTER:
http://conlangs.berkeley.edu/

What Is the 1st Language Creation Conference?
The Conference is a set of talks and panel discussions about various
issues related to language creation, from several different
perspectives. It includes both fairly academic linguistic discussions
as well as more general sociological ones; voices from many parts of
the conlanging community; and people from all over America. The
conference is open to the public; preregistration requested. Lunch and
snacks will be provided.

What Is Language Creation?
Language creation (or "conlanging" -- "conlang" is short for
"constructed language") is the process of inventing and (usually)
describing a new language. Though the extent to which a language is
created varies, creators might include sound systems, grammars, and
writing systems for their languages. Some creators are also interested
in cosmogenesis: the creation of cultures and worlds in which their
languages are used.

What's the Point?
People create constructed languages for a number of reasons. Artistic
languages are often included in fictional works: for example,
Tolkien's Quenya in The Lord of the Rings or Klingon in Star Trek.
International auxiliary languages (auxlangs) are intended for
communication between people of different native languages, usually to
prevent one being elevated over others or to making learning easier;
some famous examples are Esperanto, Ido, and Interlingua. Logical and
philosophical languages are used to test linguistic (and other)
theories; Loglan and Lojban are well-known examples of the former, and
Suzette Haden Elgin's Láadan is an example of the latter -- which she
incorporated into the Native Tongue series of novels.

Talks
Doug Ball: "Conlanging and the Linear Aspects of Syntax"
Sally Caves: "The Medium and the Internet Conlanger: Vision, Venue, and Play"
John Clifford: "Semantic Primes: aUI to Esperanto with Stops Along the Way"
Sai Emrys: "Non-Linear Fully 2-Dimensional Writing Systems"
Don Harlow: "The Use of Conlangs for Creativity"
Matt Pearson: "Case, Aspect, and Argument Structure: One Conlanger's
Investigations"
David Peterson: "Down with Morphemes: What Word and Paradigm
Morphology Can Teach Us"
John Quijada: "Applying Concepts from Cognitive Linguistics to Your Conlang"

Panels
Conlang Teaching
Conlang Aesthetics

Sponsored by ASUC & Language Creation Society. Wheelchair accessible.

FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO REGISTER:
http://conlangs.berkeley.edu/

Print-ready version of this flyer at http://conlangs.berkeley.edu/flyer.pdf

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