From: "Stone Gordonssen" <stonegordonssen@...>
Subject: Re: proving a conlang?
> >Until now, I've never actually done that. Normally I use some other
> >text, often the Lord's Prayer or the Tower of Babel passage. In the case
> >of the Torantine languages, I've often used a number of
> >writings that are in the Torantine culture - a story of the origin of
> >kings, a collections of wise sayings, etc.
>
> Not being JudeoChristian, I'd not pick Bible passages, but any such text
can
> serve. For me, something not well-known serves even better as the
individual
> translating from conlang-X to his/her native tongue can't accidentally
make
> some connection through familiarity rather than through actual
translation.
For this exact reason, I usually don't use the familiar English version, but
some other translation. My translations of the Tower of Babel passage have
been from the Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the old Hebrew
texts. As such, my conlang texts of the Babel story retain some
idiosyncrasies of Greek that the English version doesn't have.
> I've never sat down and written stories for any cultures I might have
> associated my conlangs. Perhaps I'm missing out on somthing. Thanks.
This has helped to flesh them out more than anything else. It also ensures
that I have made up words for things specific to those cultures.