Re: FAQ?

Quoting Philip Newton <Philip.Newton@...>:

> Hi all,
>
> is there a FAQ for this list?
AFAIK, there isn't a *FAQ* for the *list*;  there are
archives for the list, and the forward for these explain
the purpose of the list:

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/conlang/>

There are also FAQs for for conlanging in general:

<http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9219/conlangfaq.html>

> For example, I see quite a few posts with "CHAT" in their subject line
> (but in different threads) and presume that this is a list convention.
> In which cases is this indicator to be used, or what does it signify?
These are topicality markers that help people to sort through
posts to the list when high volume prevents them from being
able to read *all* the posts. Because the listserv can actually
filter out posts with certain tags, it is important when writing
on these topics to use them wherever reasonable so that we don't
overload people's mailboxes who don't want to read them.  These
topic tags are:  CHAT (all off-topic posts should preferably
take this tag), GROUPLANG (for discussions about group projects
between two or more members of the list), NGL (the so-called
"Next-Generation-Language", a group project some years ago
dedicated to replacing L1 languages like English and Spanish),
THEORY  (for discussion about aspects of linguistic theory relevant
to the creation of conlangs) and USAGE (for discussion about the
usage of natural languages which could, at least in principle,
be relevant to constructed languages).

For those who want to use these filters, go to
<http://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conlang&A=1>

and join the list again.

> Also, which convention is used for indicating sounds? ASCII IPA[*]?
> SAMPA? Home-grown?
> [*] I think this also comes in at least two similar but distinct
> flavours...
There are at least five major systems, in fact:  the four on Don
Blaheta's site, plus X-SAMPA:

<http://www.cs.brown.edu/~dpb/ascii-ipa.html>

=====================================================================
Thomas Wier <trwier@...> <http://home.uchicago.edu/~trwier>

             "...koruphàs hetéras hetére:isi prosápto:n /
Dept. of Linguistics  mú:tho:n mè: teléein atrapòn mían..."
University of Chicago "To join together diverse peaks of thought /
1010 E. 59th Street   and not complete one road that has no turn"
Chicago, IL 60637     Empedocles, _On Nature_, on speculative thinkers

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