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Re: Has anyone made a real conlang?

From:Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...>
Date:Tuesday, April 22, 2003, 7:03
 --- Andrew Nowicki skrzypszy:

> I could not find Singala on the web.
Now be serious, Andrew. Are you saying that a language exists only as soon as it has made its entrance on the web? Not everybody has a computer, and even those who have one are not automatically able to create websites.
> The web page is dead: http://glhetg.talossa.com
Not the page is dead, but the link. AFAIK the page has moved, but I don't recall the address. If you want I can trace it down for you.
> By the way, most vocabulary sizes listed in LangMaker.com > are exaggerated, sometimes by several orders of magnitude!
??? That is quite a painful and pointless accusation. In order words, you call us liars! I am curious what kind of proof your idea is based on... I am not going to launch any kind of ad hominem counterattacks, but I would have appreciated it if you had at least used some real arguments instead of just throwing mud.
> Although I enjoy controversial topics, I am not trying > to offend anyone.
Nevertheless, that is exactly what you are doing.
> I agree that art does not have to be > useful, but there is a question of what is a language > and what is merely name of a language. An automobile without > the engine does not deserve the name of automobile...
Yes, but a symphony that lasts less than half an hour and doesn't use a full orchestra is still a symphony.
> Perhaps there is a need for a new name for something that > is bigger than an alphabet, smaller than a language, and > made purely for fun... What about "funlang". Now, how would > we define a complete funlang? Maybe alphabet + complete > grammar + vocabulary of 100 to 999 words?
Personally, I don't see the point of making this distinction. The term "conlang" means "constructed language", no matter its purpose or the size of its vocabulary. The term "artlang" suggests that the language has been created to meet certain artistic criteria, established solely by the creator.
> Peter Clark wrote: > > PC> [...] I can't think of any committee > PC> conlang that would qualify as a "masterpiece," although > PC> I suspect that some would disagree with me. (I.e., > PC> NGL, Folkspraak, etc. But NGL is moribund and I'm not > PC> really sure of the status of Folkspraak.)
Well, personally I quite like Folkspraak. The group is not very active, but it is definitely not dead. BTW a similar project has been started recently for the Celtic language, called "Celtiecc". A small but very active group.
> The problem is that most people are arrogant and > have short attention span.
Do you mean that any artist who prefers to create his own works instead of participating in group projects is arrogant? Once more, I will not attack you personally, and I am definitely not expelling you to Auxlang. But as you managed to call us arrogant liars during one single night, I wonder why you are trying to sell your Ygyde to us, or for that matter, why you are seeking our company at all. Jan ===== "Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones __________________________________________________ Yahoo! Plus For a better Internet experience http://www.yahoo.co.uk/btoffer

Replies

Andrew Nowicki <andrew@...>
Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>