Re: vrindo (was "Re: CHAT Re: Can't stop agulunating, HELP!")

In lorya Nik Taylor:
> Joshua Shinavier wrote:
> > I suspect that any conlanger tends to collect all his/her favorite soun=
ds
> > in their personal language
>=20
> Probably true most of the time, but not always.  In my long-defunct
> conlang Kizval, I used a lot of sounds I didn't like, such as clicks and
> affricates like /kx/ which I like on their own, but in brutish
> combinations.  I was always stumbling over the words, which is when I
> semi-conciously decided to use nicer sounds in subsequent languages, and
> fully consciously reacted against in the making of what was then
> provisionally called 1998A, then W'-ansan-sanu, and eventually
> Watakass=ED.  In the initial design, only 7 consonants existed (p, t, k,
> w, y, n, l), with a very simple syllable structure (C)V(n/l).  Watakass=
=ED
> is now more complex.
Mm-hm.  If your language is primarily a fictional one then you want a
believable but original phonology, tailored more to the speakers and their
environment and history than just your personal tastes.  My lang. never had
a fictional setting until fairly recently, so I only had my own personal
tastes to take into consideration.

>=20
> > What factors go into such regional conceptions of beauty in language?
>=20
> My guess would be the language(s) spoken and languages with which one is
> in contact.  Languages of cultures which are admired/respected, I
> suspect, would tend to be viewed as beautiful, while those of rivals
> would tend to be considered ugly.  But, there's probably a lot of
> intangible factors involved.
Or hard-to-tange factors, in any case :)
Certainly the language a person grows up with is a deciding factor; as you
come to see the world through the conceptual lens of a certain language, it
seems natural that it should influence your aesthetic sense as well.  Thoug=
h
there has to be a lot more to it than that.


> > Sure, I'll stick around to see the results of the relay... I'm pretty=
=20
curious
> > to see what this poem was originally about!
>=20
> And what it's become!  I think what I got was probably not too far from
> the original, seeing as I was third, but I'd love to see what it's
> mutated into!  (Hopefully not a war-propoganda poem!  :-))
No, not that.  I would expect that the main topic of the poem (no mention o=
f
what this is... I do not own a bulletproof vest) is probably the same, but
that the statements regarding that topic have gotten jumbled and re-jumbled
through the various translations.  Can't wait till it's declassified :)

Josh