Re: Universal grammar

James:

You ought to find _Describing Morphosyntax_ by Thomas Payne at the
library there and check it out. Heck, buy your own copy. It has the
kind of information you're looking for. I'm using it to create a
checklist for my upcoming field work on Chemehuevi (Southern Numic
language spoken in Western AZ and adjacent CA); it's intended function
is to serve as a guide for linguists who work on endangered languages
and who need to write up a grammatical description of them. For the
same reason, it is an ideal tool for creating an inventory of things
you'll want to include in your constructed language. It gives you an
idea of the range of variation which is currently known on a number of
points.

Dirk

On Friday, June 6, 2003, at 10:55  AM, James Worlton wrote:

> OK...ahem...I admit to a very OT presence lately :P
> (Note the change of subject, however :).) I have been
> meaning to get around to the following for a few days.
>
> I am a person who loves (make that LOVES) structure.
> So it would be natural to believe that grammar and
> syntax creation would be no problem for me, right?
> Wrong. I have read the "How to create a conlang"
> websites and even the lengthy "monograph" of Rick
> Morneau (yes, the WHOLE thing -- it was interesting
> from a theoretical and practical viewpoint, but not
> from an artistic/naturalistic one). I prefer conlangs
> that are naturalistic, as mine wants to be.
>
> My problem is that I have a limited knowledge of other
> grammars and syntactical methods in natlangs and
> conlangs. This of course can be alleviated through
> study. But I lack the time (maybe I'm just lazy ;)) ).
> Is there a good reference (or set of them) for
> grammatical comparisons between languages? How about a
> set of Universal grammatical points. (I have googled
> for it, but only find philosophical appproaches. I
> want practical! :)).) My goal in looking at such
> things would be to understand better how communication
> works with different sets of rules, which I could then
> choose from for my own project.
>
> I bring this up because Oreelynna is experiencing a
> crisis of attention lately due to my realization that
> its grammar seems to have inconsistencies. What they
> are, I couldn't say. It is just a feeling. Any
> references that you all know of would help here.
>
> James -- looking for the easy (no...an easier) way out.
>
> =====
> James Worlton
> -----------------
> Time flies like an arrow.
> Fruit flies like a banana.
>                  -Unknown
>
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--
Dirk Elzinga
Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

"I believe that phonology is superior to music. It is more variable and
its pecuniary possibilities are far greater." - Erik Satie

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