Re: LUNATIC SURVEY: 2005

LUNATIC SURVEY 2005, by Sally Caves


A. PROFESSION, DEMOGRAPHICS, INCLINATION:

1. Who are you, and what is the name of your invented language or
languages? Pseudonyms allowed. (Are you using one? asked "Sally
Caves")

My name is 서상현, romanized Seo Sanghyeon. I invented various
languages including Aeslyg, Kyl Lano, Haran Lamim.

2. Are you new to the Lunatic Survey or have you filled out a version
of this survey before?

I am new to this survey.

3. Do you have a website for you language/world(s)? If so, please list
the URL address.

I don't have any website for my languages, but I do have a website
concerning conlangs, like Elvish and Lojban.

URL is http://myhome.hitel.net/~SKC8563/

4. What is your email address? name at hostsite dot whatever.

Mail sanxiyn@gmail.com

5. What is your age? (vague answers allowed, but it is an important demographic)

I am 20.

6. What is your gender?

Male.

7. What is your nationality?  Where do you live now?

I am a Korean. I live in the city of 의정부, romanized Uijeongbu, at the
north of Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

8. What is your native language?

Modern Korean, standard dialect.

9. What natural languages foreign to you have you studied or do you speak?

English (as you can see now). I also studied Japanese, Chinese,
German, but I am fluent in none. I also studied Middle Korean (around
15th century) and Classical Chinese.

10. What is your level of education? i.e., your highest degree
achieved or sought?

University.

11. What is your profession? Are you a professional linguist? If so,
what also makes you a conlanger?

I am a student.

13. If you are a student, what is your major or your area of study?

Computer Science major.

14. How long have you been developing your invented language(s)?

I think my first serious attempt started in 2000.

15. At what age did you first start inventing a language? Can you
briefly describe your early efforts?

As I said above, I started when I was 15.

A sample: _se núre nabije kedó óne rada_. "All dwelling in one house
are strage brothers three". This is from Michael Ende's novel Momo. If
you know Korean, you will notice _se_ is exactly a word for "three" in
Korean, 세.

16. What drew you to start inventing a language and/or constructed
world? What was the inspiration?

I had a very specific inspiration, namely a Korean fantasy novel
titled "Dragon's Temple" (용의 신전).

17. Did you start inventing before you had heard of the list or after?
Before you had heard of Esperanto or Tolkien? (I name the two most
common inspirations)

I started before I heard of CONLANG-L. Before I've heard of Esperanto
or Tolkien, for that matter. See above.

18. Tolkien calls it a "shy art" and a "secret vice"; but that was
before the Internet. How secret do you keep it from others outside
this list for much the same reasons?

I have used my languages in some of my writings in the fantasy
setting, but that's the only "public use" I can think of.

19. Yaguello has called it "pathological," influenced, unfortunately,
by a lot of psychiatric writings such as _Le Schizo et la langue_. To
what extent have you encountered such reactions by outsiders you had
taken into your confidence?

I don't talk about conlangs with "outsiders". I met some conlangers in
Korea before I found CONLANG-L, and of course we enjoyed to talk about
our creations.

20. Do you consider it nerdy to be doing this? This is a term that
gets tossed around a lot. Or actually sophisticated? Do you need to
get a life, or is this your life? What is a life?

I consider conlanging as a normal hobby.

21. There has been a connection noted between linguistic and musical
ability. Are you musically inclined? Do you sing and/or play a musical
instrument? Do you compose music?

I play a recorder. I used to compose some simple melody, produced some
MIDI files, and once accompanied my fantasy writing with my music. I
don't consider my composition any good though.

22. There has been a connection noted between linguistic and
mathematical ability. Are you mathematically inclined or inclined
towards computing in any way?

I love math, and I do math well. I got some prizes in Korean national
math olympiads.

23. What other passions do you pursue that give you creative pleasure?
(painting, drawing, sculpting, calligraphy, model-building, novel or
story-writing, role-playing games, map-making, book-making, poetry,
web-designing, star-gazing or other?)

I think I mentioned my fantasy writings above. I do programming. I
read lots of books. Sadly, I don't think I have produced anything
creative in mathematics.


B. FEATURES OF YOUR INVENTION

1. Pick the best term for the invented language you are currently
invested in: auxlang, artlang, engelang, loglang, lostlang,
philosophical language, or "other." etc.

Artlang.

2. Is your conlang a priori (devised from scratch) or a posteriori
(based on an existing natural language or drawing from a language
class such as Semitic)?

A priori, but when I'm stuck, I arbitrarilly pick words from languages
I know, but with some twist, like syllabic permutation. So that I
wouldn't recognise it's origin some time after.

4. Do you have a script for your conlang? What is it called? Could you
provide me at a later date with a sample of it?  Is it on Langmaker's
"neography" site?

I had one for Aeslyg, something in the style of Linear Script. I also
had three styles of writing for the script, normal, cursive, and
angular. I don't do conscripting any more.

5. Briefly describe the outlines of your invented language
(syntactical structure--VO, OV, etc.; class or type--analytic,
synthetic, agglutinating, incorporative, accusative, ergative, active,
trigger, other, combinations, etc.), noting what you have done with it
that is innovative in your opinion.

SOV, agglutinating, accusative, postfix, sentence embedding (instead
of relative pronoun), etc. In short, sadly, Korean-clone.

7. How extensive would you say your invented language is, now? How big
the vocabulary? Do you provide a vocabulary list or taxonomy on your
website if you have one?

I never had my language with extensive vocabulary. I think I compiled
a vocab list or two for myself, but never published one.

8. How do you build vocabulary? Some people pull words out of the air;
others build up a base of root words and affixes. Many do both.

Out of the air, or as I said above, by permutating words from natural languages.

3. Does a constructed world accompany your invention(s)? What is it called?

Invention?

9. Has your language and conworld ever served in a role-playing game
or a world shared by other conlangers?

No. (But I mentioned it served as a background in my writing.)

10. Briefly describe your conculture (is it within the bounds of this
world? on another world, etc.?)

Another world, but very similar to ours. I wrote some stories set in
this world, but nothing extensive.

11. Are the beings who speak your invented language human or alien? If
alien, what features have you given the language to make it alien or
how have you restricted or expanded its phonology? vocabulary?

They are human.

12. What do you write in it? Poems? chants? lullabyes? prayers?
history? stories? recipes? Are any of these exhibited on your website?

Most importantly, character names and place names. Also a phrase or
two from old inscriptions, or poems or chants. In my stories, that is.

Beside that, I do translations of whatever work I like. As above,
works by Michael Ende, or Jorge Luis Borges, or Yun Dongju (Korean
poet), or various Classical Chinese poets, or Tolkien, or...

13. Can you speak your conlang? Are you fluent in it? Is this a goal
for you? Have you tried to teach it to an intimate? a companion
animal? :)

Since my languages all have small vocabulary, I really can't "speak"
them. I think I was familiar with my languages' syntax when they were
my main language. For fluency, I certainly can read what I wrote in my
language with high speed. I don't create phonology I can't pronounce.

I have never teached my language to anyone.

14. Have you made any soundbytes of your language? Could you provide
me at a later date with a sample of them?

I have made none so far. Perhaps later...

15. If you use Roman script, how recognizably "phonetic" is your
writing system? In other words, do you use unconventional letters or
letter combinations to represent sounds? Why or why not? I'm thinking,
of course, of Etabnannery, for those who remember it.

I enjoy playing with automatic sound changes and diachronic spelling
oddities, but I always chose phonetic, or morphophonemic (like Korean)
romanization.

16. How many of you sing in your language and have invented songs for
that purpose?

I do try to give some meters to my poems or chants in invented
languages, but I am not a good poet even in my native tongue.

17. How many of you, for entertainment or any other reason, resort to
gibberish? (This is in response to Adrian Morgan's question in
December). Does it give you ideas for conlanging? (Have you ever
fooled anyone?) How many of you have sung gibberish?

I don't do these.

18. What on-line games do you play? (or devise?) Translations,
Babel-text, Relays, etc.

Well, I translate what I like, not what others like.

19. Which do you prefer doing: devising phonology? script? structure?
building vocabulary?

I think I enjoy the combined effect of all. Except script. I quit conscripting.

20. Do you start and stop several different conlangs, or do you tend
to stick with one and develop it over years?

I stick with one, but I change my main language fairly often.
Certainly I didn't develop something over years.

21. What do you think makes a "complete" conlang, if a conlang can
attain completion? What are your goals for completion? When do you
grow "tired" of your conlang, or don't you?

A language that can translate any short passage is complete enough for
me. I don't think I grow tired of my conlang: it is just that my taste
changes.

22. Which came first: the conlang or the conworld?

Not sure. They started independnatly.


C. PHILOSOPHY AND AESTHETIC:

1. What aesthetic features do you value in inventing language? Be
specific as to phonology, structure, script, etc.

I don't engage in linguistic aesthetics. See, there are poems for any
natural languages, with their own beauty...

I do love Old English of Beowulf, Sanskrit of Rgveda, Chinese of Li
Sao (by Qu Yuan), etc. But beauty is in these works itself, not in
languages they are written in.

2. What commonly applied aesthetics have you ever tried to avoid in
your invention? This has been an oft debated question, especially when
it comes to Tolkien.

Not applicable.

3. Is difficulty or obscurity a goal in inventing a language?

No. I prefer clear languages, whatever that means.

4. Is efficiency a goal in inventing a language? This question needn't
cancel out the previous one.

No.

5. How natural do you wish to make it, or is that a concern? Or
rather, how unnatural do you wish to make it?

Naturality is a good thing. But "natural" here doesn't need to be same
as "natural" of real languages.

6. Can conlanging be sexy? sensual? obsessing? how does it heal or harm you?

Huh?

7. How many of you have developed a rich vocabulary of obscenities?

I am not into rich vocabulary, let alone obscenities.

8. Can it be mystical? To what extent does conlanging fulfill a
spiritual purpose for you? Or a magical one? Did it ever start out
that way?

I am an atheist. If there is a God, he is in numbers.

9. How many of you have developed a rich vocabulary of magical,
religious, or incantatory terms?

I did try to devise some "formulae" for spells, but I used plain words
for things in nature, like fire, water, wind, grass, etc.

10. How many of you have striven to invent words that express novel
ideas, or are not expressed in any natural language that you know?

Not any novel ideas, but I'd like to have words for Old English's
"lof" or "wyrd". I don't think "fame" or "fate" do justice to these
words.

11. Name a few of the words in your language(s) that you are most
pleased with and are the most original to you.

tényk (wolf)
kizona (shower)
co'af (love)
rufelumekré (blue-wave)
þarœkas (weapon)
fynaméli (white-haired)

12. How do you sense that a word is "right" for its meaning? How much
do you labor at fitting a sound to its sense? Or don't you care?

I don't care much about sound-meaning "fit".

13. Do you ever rely on a software program to build vocabulary? Do
those who don't think that's cheating? :)

I never do that. Vocab building is a part of the fun.

14. Is conlang a hobby, a craft, or an art in your mind? This has been
hotly debated, so the question is not as weird as it seems. Can
conlanging be considered an art? Why or why not?

I consider it as a craft. It is not much of an art form, just as
Sanskrit is not an art form no matter how great Shakuntala is. Some
may argue otherwise though.

15. If it is, who do you think are its consumers?

Not applicable.

16. This question is directed as well at any auxlangers on the list.
Is it an art, a political tool, both? And who do you think could be
its consumers?

Same here.

17. There has been some exciting talk recently (and over the years)
about what a conlang is or is not. If you could pick a metaphor or
write a descriptive phrase defining "conlang," what would that be?

That's a hard question.

"This craft of verse", as Borges said, or "Searonet seowed smiþes
orþancum" (a cunning net woven by a smith's wit) from Beowulf, if I am
allowed to use obviously Tolkienish words.

18. Why or why not would you eschew the metaphors "miniature" or "model"?

Obviously, conlangs are not really "model" of natlangs.

19. Is a conlang more like a glimpse of something lifesize? (Irina's
suggestion in 2001)

Yes.

20. There has been some invigorating discussion lately about what a
conlang can do that most natural languages don't (such as produce OSV
structure, or eradicate verbs) What experiments have you made with
your artlang(s) along these lines?

I tread on the safe side, and want my languages to be "natural".

21  What do you think distinguishes a conlang from a natural language,
if you think so at all?  What would it take for a linguist to be
fooled into thinking a conlang was a natural language?

For a-posteriori conlangs, I don't think there's any way to tell them
apart, except "I know all Romance languages, and although this too
seems to be Romance, it is not one of them" kind of argument.

I may be flamed for saying this, but what is Modern Hebrew or Kernewek
Kemmyn, if they are not a-posteriori conlangs based on dead languages?

22. How much do you study other languages in order to discover what is
natural in language? Or to discover how you can stretch the boundaries
of language to make it do things that are unnatural?

23. Can such a language function?

24. There has been quite a bit of fascinating debate about the
relevance of conlanging to linguistic study. We all know that
linguistics can aid conlangers, but in what ways can conlangers aid
linguists? Or does it matter?



D. THE LISTSERV

1. How did you first hear of this list?

From Elfling, Tolkien linguistics list, I think.

2. How long have you been on this listserv or on other related
listservs? Continuously? Infrequently? Off and on? More off than on
and vice versa?

I am a newbie, although I've heard of the list long before I participated.

3. What is the appeal of being on a listserv and contributing to it?
Do you think you contribute moderately or excessively, or not enough?
Do you tend to lurk?

Talking with other conlangers, a kind of people unfortunately rare
near here, is an enough appeal.

4. For those of you who remember its inception, how has it changed
over the past decade?

Heh, how can I answer this question?

5. How helpful has the list been in developing your language? In
learning linguistic information?

Time will tell.

6. What books have you consulted? On your own, or because you heard of
them on the list?

7. Do you peruse the websites of other conlangers?

Yes.

8. Do you sense that people on this list are interested in your
conlang and give you feedback on it?

Well, I am not that arrogant.

9. Have you ever set out to learn at least a little bit of someone's
conlang, if only a word or two, or a phrase?

I did that many times, if only to surprise him/her by writing mail in
his/her conlang!

10. Do you peruse Jeffrey Henning's Langmaker.com site?

Yes. Tepa was good.

11. What on-line techniques do you use to showcase your conlang, such
as Audacity or other sound programs, Dreamweaver, Illustrator,
Fontography, and so forth? Did you hear of them on the list?

I want to write a web application for presenting conlang on the web,
targetting fellow conlangers. Some day.

I think I have enough programming skills for that.

12. Have you ever tried to introduce a friend to the list?

No. Mainly because they are not good at English.

13. Do you know of anyone who does this kind of thing but who has
never heard of the list?

Yes, many. I'd say most conlangers in Korea, some 10 of them I know,
never heard of this list. It's in English, so wouldn't help them
anyway.

14. What other lists do you frequent related to conlanging?

Elfling and Lojban list.

15. What do you think will be the future of the list? I see it giving
birth to alternate lists like Conworld, Lostlanguages, Romlang, etc.
What improves the present list and its helpfulness or entertainment
value?

I am too much a newbie to say anything about this.

16. What Internet technology would you most like to see developed that
would aid you in showcasing your language(s)?

If one is needed, I will develop one.

17. What lists like conlang exist in other cultures and languages that
you know of?

There are Tolkien language forums in Korean.

18. There has been some terrific talk about CONLANG as a community.
And yet so many of us seem to want the world to know of it and respect
it. Is the CONLANG community enough?

I don't think I understand this question.

19. In my 2000 on-line article
(http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0003/languages.php) I suggested
that the Internet "may provide a site that, with the impetus of
competition and showmanship, encourages inutile and obsessive
activity"; I was quoting Jeff Salamon's article "Revenge of the
Fanboys." Village Voice 13 Sep., 1994. He wrote that over ten years
ago. Do outsiders still entertain such notions, do you think, about
listservs like this one? Do you? To what extent has the list increased
obsessive development in you? Would you be inventing as furiously as
you are without the list or knowledge of other inventors?

Certainly, having colleagues help, but I had colleagues before joining
the list anyway.

20. If asked whether it is not better to turn your linguistic talents
to the learning and speaking of natural languages (a common response
I've met with and aimed at criticizing introversion or solipsism), how
would you answer?

I don't think I have any special linguistic talent in language
learning. I don't really "learn" conlangs anyway. (Except Elvish and
Lojban, or Toki Pona.)

Quickly going through phonology, declensions, conjugations, syntax,
and learning full-fledged language to use in conversation, is entirely
different. "Learning" natlang requires huge investments.

21. In Elizabethan times there were the inkhorn neologisms. There were
ciphers and pasigraphies. Today there is conlanging. Do you think the
contemporary world is more open to language innovation or more closed?

I am not into "history of conlanging". I can't really compare.

Seriously, I am sure people were conlanging in Rome, in Maya, in Java,
everywhere. Are there well-recorded conlang before (say) Volapük?

22. What would Tolkien have done with such a community? He writes in
"A Secret Vice" that language inventors "hardly ever show their works
to one another, so none of them know who are the geniuses at the game,
or who are the splendid 'primitives'." He suggests that perhaps in a
later time language invention will become respectable, and such things
can be exhibited. Have we reached that time?

I am sure he would have enjoyed it. He mentions a brief encounter with
other conlanger while he was in the war. I don't remember exactly, but
I think he wrote that he once heard someone saying, "I should use
prefix for perfective", or something like that, and knew there were
other people doing similar things.

23. Is there a danger that over-exposure can make conlanging "banal"?
To what extent is it exciting because it is a) considered
disreputable, "corny" or "mad," or b) largely unknown to the world?
Does it have a fizzle-out date?  In other words, is it just a fad, or
is it a natural human inclination that will stand the test of time?

I consider conlanging has a natural inclination.


Finally, may I have your permission to use any of this material of
yours for my academic work on conlanging? First name? last name?
pseudonym? anonymous?

Do What You Dream. (As written in AURYN of Neverending Story.)