Re: Introducing Paul Burgess and his radioactive imagination!

mna_vanantha <paul@...> wrote:

> Well, hello to everyone here on the CONLANG list. And a big thank-you to
> Sally Caves, who's been so very kind and helpful to me since I first
> discovered the world of conlanging on the Internet, only two weeks ago.
Hi, Paul!

As for me, I started out when I was around 14 or 15. It all grew out of a
science fiction story I wanted to write. One of the species in it was called
the Térnaru and I wanted to get an idea of what they were like. First came
a history (which is still under constant revision), then I got the idea into
my head that they needed a language. Here, my inspiration was Mark Okrand
rather than JRRT (I'd heard the Klingons had their own language) and decided
to try my hand at it myself.

Thankfully, it wasn't just a relex of English--being Irish, I've had more
than enough exposure to other languages--but I can still remember arguing
with a friend of mine, who thankfully didn't twig that I was creating my own
language, whether or not it was alright to use a 'j' to identify a schwa! :-)

Later, when I arrived in college, I wast^H^H^H^Hspent a good chunk of my time
in the labs looking for anything I could on linguistics. You see, I grew up
in the country and besides the Latin, French, German and Irish grammars I
had, I'd no other exposure to linguistics, so the Internet was a godsend.
That's when I came across all the other people online who were doing the same
thing as me. The first thing I found was the Rikchiks, then Talossan, then
Richard Kennaway's list, and then The List. To say I was blown away would be
a gross understatement!

Oh, and I never did get to write the story, though the universe it's set in
and the premise behind it has expanded quite a bit and is part of something
I call my 'Egon' cycle (after the main character in the first story). I've
also had other ideas, like my Porteressian cycle, an outgrowth of my Eretas
language, and happens to be an allegory on the dangers of any mass movement
and how easily good intentions and good ideas can be twisted. I still intend
on writing all this stuff and developing my Ananagyu (another conculture,
this time vamps) much more. And to put more than sketches online. Oh, but
for time!

I'm definitely going to take a look at your site when I get a chance, only as
I write, I'm not online so I can't right now.

K.

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Ceci n'est pas une .sig.

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