Re: Introducing Paul Burgess and his radioactive imagination!

Hi Paul!  I'm glad you could respond with so much alacrity!  Welcome to the
list!  I still remain amazed that you've memorized enough vocabulary to be
able to talk in mna Vanantha, and write in it almost effortlessly.  No
matter how much vocabulary Teonaht develops, I still find that I have to go
back and check what a basic word is in it.  Like "soup."  I envy you your
elephantine memory.

Some quirks of the list:  Christophe Grandsire has invented a fiendish
language called "Maggel," whose difficulty has led to the coining of the
word "maggelity" of any language or conlang that is too complicated for its
own good.  It was originally inspired, IIRC, by his forays into Scots
Gaelic.  I think H.S. Teoh's Ebisedian has won the maggelity prize lately.
(H.S. Teoh is a GUY, incidentally--to wit the funny thread about his gender.
Many of us have names that are not easily recognizably male or female).  I
would tremble to come after him in a Relay (explained below).  I've been
aiming to make Teonaht as maggelitous as possible, with as many exceptions
to the rules as possible.  Etabnannery [correct my spelling--and forgive me
for forgetting the name of its inventor!] is another term for a writing
system [usually in the roman alphabet] whose characters are fiendishly
un-phonetic or multi-purpose--to wit: modern Irish--or which have
complicated spelling systems that have to be memorized--to wit: modern
English and French.  Like photi for "fish."  ASMCL is an acronym I think I
invented that means "As For MY ConLang," which refers to the tendancy many
of us have to focus on our languages and language problems, usually in
response to some request somebody else has posted about his or her language
and language problem.

We do RELAYS.  This is a very popular Conlang Game, invented by Irina Rempt
(who I think is nomail) who has also established a separate listserv for
that purpose.  The principle is like Conlang "Telephone."  We decide on a
ring of participants, and the Relay master posts a short text in his or her
conlang (with linguistic instructions about the language but no translation)
which the next member must interpret and translate into HIS language within
forty-eight hours and then send it off to the next in line.  It comes full
circle back to the Master, usually considerably altered... and for a while
considerably divinized.  (i.e., a proverb would turn into a creation myth
with a goddess, or what have you).  I think Bryan Maloney is running the
present relay.  Is that right?

Less popular, and I'd like to see it come back, is the Translation Exercise.
A text is given on-line and we translate it into our invented languages.
The most famous one is the Tower of Babel Translation, conducted by Jeffrey
Hennings, who has a page on it.  Genesis 11: 1-9 (you know!).

We had a long thread on synaesthesia--whether it was related to conlanging.
I see that you have a remark about the colors of the week on one of your web
sites.

Well, that's what I can think of for the moment.  Traltan!  Sed tso narlty!
(Greetings, we welcome you!)

Sally
scaves@frontiernet.net
Eskkoat ol ai sendran, rohsan nuehra celyil takrem bomai nakuo.
"My shadow follows me, putting strange, new roses into the world."
http: (I will be getting my list of gods up presently!)

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