Re: LUNATIC SURVEY: 2005

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")

Most people (RL too) call me JC. I have one named conlang, Mejanyo, and
several unnamed ones. They collect names like "new" and "other" on my
computer until I decide to change them.

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

New.

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

I keep meaning to do that Real Soon Now.

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

I use a throw-away address for lists and dump them when I start to get
too much spam.

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

27

6. What is your gender?

Female

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

USA

8. What is your native language?

English

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

Spanish, a little German. I've looked at grammars, etc. for quite a few
others.

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

I've taken a few graduate courses.

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

Software Engineer. Very amateur linguist. But I like languages.

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

N/A

14. How long have you been developing your invented language(s)?
15. At what age did you first start inventing a language? Can you
briefly describe your early efforts?

I toyed with grammar ideas before it ever occurred to me to try to make
a language; if you don't count that about a year ago.

16. What drew you to start inventing a language and/or constructed
world? What was the inspiration?
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've always made up worlds. I can't remember ever not having them in my
head. At some point I started putting them on paper. The first conlang
(Mejanyo's precursor) was originally supposed to be a naming language
for my conworld, but then it decided that it wanted to be more than
that.

I started before I knew the list existed. Tolkien was a nudge. I'd
heard of Esperanto but auxlangs don't interest me much.

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 don't think anyone else knows. I don't try to keep it a secret, but
then there are a lot of things I don't volunteer.

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?

N/A.

*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?

Maybe. I've never worried much about being or not being nerdy. I like
to write code and learn new programming languages in my spare time too,
if that tells you anything. I'd far rather be doing this than watching
tv.

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 piano and flute, and a little guitar and clarinet, and I sing in
the car :-) I don't compose.

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

Not so much mathematically inclined, but computing yes.

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?)

Mainly music and writing. I used to play rpgs but it's been a long
time. Is star gazing creative? I do that too. Astronomy is the one
thing I do pay attention to the mathematics of.


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.

Artlangs.

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. While looking at others' a posteriori languages can be
interesting, I have never wanted to create one myself.

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?

No, but I've toyed with the idea and collected a few glyphs that I
like.

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.

I don't know that any of them are particularly innovative. They're more
ways for me to understand the grammar and things for my conpeople to
speak. I'll talk about the ones I've done the most with.

Mejanyo. pretty basic, VSO, mostly agglutinating, nom/acc. This one
passed through more stages than I can remember before settling down to
this.

CL 2. I paid more attention to the sounds on this one, and it has a
tendency to combine words into phrases rather than create new ones.
SVO, fusional, nom/acc. Not very detailed.

CL 3. In which I discover that I like clicks, even if I'm not very good
at saying them yet. Limited phonology, trigger, verb final, mostly
isolating. Rather new, not much detail yet. It doesn't have many hard
lines between nouns, adjectives and verbs.

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?

Mejanyo is fairly extensive, ~1500 words. The grammar is developed
enough that you could hold a conversation.

CL 2 has maybe 400 words, grammar is pretty basic yet.

CL 3 has around 80 words and very basic grammar so far.

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.

Both. I like to have roots because it makes the language feel more
connected, but I make up words from scratch too.

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

Yes. The same world for all of the languages, but it doesn't have a
name. The people just call it the world and I haven't made up a word
for that in any of the languages.

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

No.

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

Another world, pre-industrial, magical. I figure I have at a bunch more
languages to play with in there too.

*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?

Both, but all humanoid. So far, at least.

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

Not much, just short little things.

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?
:)

A little, but not fluent. I think it would be neat if I were. But
thanks a lot... now I want to go get a parrot just so I can teach it my
conlangs :-)

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

No.

*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.

They're more or less phonetic. They just use the basic, unadorned Latin
alphabet. Typing diacriticals or lots of special characters or
punctuation makes my wrist hurt. I figure that in my conworld they
don't use the Latin alphabet anyway, so my romanization may as well be
convenient for me.

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

Hey, songs! That would be cool.

*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?

No.

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

I translate things sometimes.

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

Structure. Vocabulary would be second. Phonology is not the most
interesting thing to me, and scripts would be neat but keep getting
pushed to the bottom of the pile.

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

Several different ones so far, but I haven't been doing it long.
There's always one that's the main one at any given time, but they
cycle.

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?

I don't know that "complete" is a useful word for languages. I guess my
goals, if I have any, are to make them "complete" enough to converse
in, or write stories in. If I get tired of one I stop working on it and
move to another one. I tend to go back to them.

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

Conworld, by a long time.


C. PHILOSOPHY AND AESTHETIC:

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

Nothing in particular, really. I like variety.

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.

Nothing in particular here either.

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

I try to make them fairly natural.

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

Oh sure, why not? :-)

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

A few.

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?

Not really.

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

I have some magical and religious terms, but not a rich vocabulary.

*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 actively, but I do try to make different connections than in the
languages I know.

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

I just like these words.

sael: a shiny black
rhazissa: hawk
nyonya: rapids

oshana: water
uahesa: night

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?

Sometimes I'll create a word and see what it feels like, but most of
the time I don't care.

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

I don't. I do write programs to apply sound changes, though.

*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?

It's a hobby for me.

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

Other conlangers?

*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?

N/A

*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?

::shrugs::

*18. Why or why not would you eschew the metaphors "miniature" or
"model"?
*19. Is a conlang more like a glimpse of something lifesize? (Irina's
suggestion in 2001)

I don't set out to make a model of anything, or to make a miniature
version of anything. I'd agree with the comment it about being a
glimpse, if only because the sort I'm most interested in are like
incomplete pictures of a natlang.

*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've played with some things but never really developed them.

*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?

I think conlangs tend to be far more regular than natlangs in ways we
(I, at least) don't see, because it isn't our first language.

*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?

Somewhat. I like to see how other languages handle various things.

*23. Can such a language function?

An unnatural language? Function in what way?

*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?

To linguistic study? I don't know. It could point to ways people think
about language, if nothing else.

To put a more personal spin on the second question, it's an excellent
way to get a feel for grammar. You can experiment with things. Why does
natlang X do Y this way? Take it, change it, and maybe you get a better
sense of why.


D. THE LISTSERV

1. How did you first hear of this list?

I found the archives through google.

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?

A couple of months.

*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 ?

I am by nature a lurker :-) I come out of the woodwork here more than I
expected to. I keep thinking I'll get that web site up and post a
link... well... Real Soon Now, you'll see.

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

N/A

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

Quite helpful on both counts.

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

I've read some books, usually from the library. I don't remember which,
right off-hand.

*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?

Erm. See that website comment.

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?

No. I'm usually looking at the grammars.

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

Sometimes.

*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?

N/A

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

No.

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

No.

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

I lurk on IdeoLengua.

*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 don't think I'd enjoy it as much if it were too fractured. I don't
have to read the threads that don't interest me, but I usually scan
them because I'm often surprised.

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

Nothing in particular.

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

IdeoLengua; I know of a few others secondhand.

*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'd do it without any sort of community.

*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 Barticle "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?

I probably do it a little more than I would otherwise, but it's far
from obsessive. People have always engaged in inutile and obsessive
activity; they'd find an outlet for it somewhere.

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 do that too.

*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?

No idea.

*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?

We're farther along than before. Many people have never even heard of
it, though.

*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 don't think it's a fad. How many people do it because it's "cool"?
Not many, I'd wager. And many start while believing that no one else
conlangs. I don't find it disreputable, corny, or mad, and don't really
care if it's unknown to the world.

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?

Sure.

-- JC
Watch the Reply-To...