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Re: Reactions to the secret vice (was: Steg's wonderful sig.)

From:Matt Pearson <jmpearson@...>
Date:Monday, November 8, 1999, 20:14
Sally Caves wrote:

>The reaction I got recently from an academic friend (I'm beginning to >come out >of the closet a little more now that I've been writing about this in >academic circles) was: "how ARROGANT!" >Addressing the (to him) arrogant assumption that any one >person could replicate the complexity and history of a real language. >I asked him if he would have the same response to "I am building a >miniature city." >As soon as I invoked the "miniature" element, he could understand. >See, he thought, at first, that I and all the rest of you are trying >to build full-sized cities, all by ourselves. <G>
Here's where the term "model language" comes in handy, I think. I prefer "model" to "miniature", because the latter word connotes triviality for many people. I think "model" gets at the heart of the difference between a natlang and a conlang: Conlangs are things which more or less mimic the structure and behaviour of natlangs, but are less detailed and more restricted in scope, and are never actually *used* for anything. :-) Matt.