Re: Has anyone made a real conlang?

From: "Andrew Nowicki" <andrew@...>
Subject: Re: Has anyone made a real conlang?


> Are there any advantages of scribbling on paper?
Several, actually.  It works when there's no power, it's a whole lot
cheaper, and it's more universally portable.  I don't have (and can't
afford) a laptop, so paper has a great number of advantages for me.

> If someone tells me that he loves to sing or to paint, but does
> not share his art with anyone, I am skeptical. Art is useful
> when it is admired by a large number of people.
What is the use of art?  It seems to me that it has only one use, to provide
enjoyment or entertainment.  But art can be enjoyed without being shared.  I
like to sing, but I'm not any good.  Few people want to hear my singing, but
it's not for them.  I'm not interested in performing for others, simply
doing something I enjoy on my own.  My favorite place to sing is in the
woods, far away from anyone else, where I enjoy it for myself.  By the
definition of providing enjoyment, what I do _is_ useful art.

> Unabridged Webster's dictionary defines language as "the words,
> their pronunciation, and the method of combining them used and
> understood by a considerable community and established by long usage".
I don't think that's how most people use the word "language".  By that
definition, ASL (American Sign Language) is not actually a language.  It has
no pronunciation, and it is not established by long usage.  Hundreds of
years ago, people were speaking English, as well as Polish, Italian,
Chinese, and thousands of other languages.  Those are established by long
usage.  But languages have been created that are not established by long
usage, just as ASL was when it was created.  Then there are languages like
Chemehuevi, being discussed on this list, that do not have considerable
communities who understand them.  Yet it is a language.

The word "language" seems to be reasonably well understood, but harder to
define.  How's this - "A language is a set of information-bearing parts that
can be combined in various ways to mean different things, this set being a
discrete whole that differs from other such sets, and could be taught to
others who have the capability to use it."?

When making a definition of "language", maybe we ought to see what it should
include, and what it should exclude.  Andrew, tell me which of these you'd
consider languages.  Perhaps that will clear up the differences between some
of our terminology.

Russian
ASL
Haitian Creole
Klingon
Esperanto
Raven calls
C++

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