CONLANG Digest - 8 Sep 2000

> From:    Jonathan Chang <Zhang2323@...>
> Subject: Re: Greenberg's universals
>
> >"Language Universals & Linguistic Typology" by Bernard Comire is very
> >good.  The drawback to it (IMHO) is that it only deals with grammar.
> >William Croft's book "Typology and Universals" deals with almost
> >every aspect of language (phonology, grammar, semantics, diachrony,
etc.).
> > An excellent book - I highly recommend it.
>
>     As others have, I HIGHLY recommend Thomas E. Payne's _Describing
> Morphosyntax: A Guide for Field Linguists_. I just got me copy this week &
> the bloomin' bookspine is already cracking...
*Muke kicks his lousy university library, the local library with all its
romance novels, and the local bookstores as well for good measure*

Rrrr.  One thing I don't like about this place is the impossibility of
finding decent books in these things.  (I did, however, get a decent-looking
Latin book the other day--wanted Greek but they didn't have any...) Maybe
'ventually I'll be able to get to ordering books on-line.

> From:    Jonathan Chang <Zhang2323@...>
> Subject: send Bigbabytalk sample
>
>     czHANg forgot sample
>     sample send now
>     czHANg amuse ConLanglist
[snip]

Reminds me of talking to the Norns in the game Creatures (1/2/3/...).

Kijani eat fruit
   Kijani very hungry, eat food
push fruit yes
   Kijani extremely hungry
   Kijani run cliff edge
run cliff edge no

(Creatures is one of those big alife sims, you have to teach them the words
if you want to understand them at all...  If you don't teach them, or if
they forget, they'll start coming out with junk like 'eem flib dis' and
stuff.)

     *Muke!