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Re: Introduction and a few novice questions

From:Dirk Elzinga <dirk_elzinga@...>
Date:Wednesday, March 13, 2002, 19:32
At 2:03 PM -0500 03/12/02, Paul Edson wrote:
>The question, then, is: What factors do you use to allow >you to narrow the range of strategies/features you >incorporate into your languages? How does one cope with such >an embarrassing wealth of possibility?
For me, I start with a few features and add others as necessary. The features I start with are features which have captured my interest in natural languages. For example, in Tepa/Miapimoquitch, I wanted to incorporate an interest in intricate (but straightforward) phonological patterns (such as those found in Numic languages) and word formation strategies which don't rely solely on affixation (believe it or not, Hebrew was my jumping off place for Tepa/ Miapimoquitch word formation; it doesn't look at all like Hebrew anymore). As I went along, I had to add more features, some original features were modified, and others were tossed out altogether (not many of these, though). One of the additions is a Salish-style syntax, which I had not envisioned at all for the language when I started, but which fits in well. For Ustekkli (the latest project), the starting point was a Northern Germanic prosodic distinction which I wanted to play with and understand better, and a Uto-Aztecan style morphosyntax. I don't know where I'll end up, but I'm sure that I'll have to add things as I go. So start small and as you go. Dirk -- Dirk Elzinga Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu Man deth swa he byth thonne he mot swa he wile. 'A man does as he is when he can do what he wants.' - Old English Proverb

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Clint Jackson Baker <litrex1@...>