Re: Has anyone made a real conlang?

--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Nowicki <andrew@M...> wrote:
> It seems to me that most of the languages discussed
> in this mailing list are not languages at all, but
> names of languages that exist only in the imagination
I don't see where that's true. I've not been a member of this list for years
like some here, but I've looked at the URLs that I've seen in .sig in the
posts. Some are preliminary, but most are actual conlangs. Someone mentioned
that we conlangers are (paraphrasing) madmen and poets. True. I know that the
conlangs I've created and the ones I'm working on now will never be spoken
worldwide. Two are for aliens on two other worlds, and one is the parent
language for two others. These are for some stories I'm working on.

Just because I haven't posted the grammar and lexicon for each of them doesn't mean
it doesn't "exist." It just means I'm still working on them or tweaking them.
Don't assume that because we don't all post learning guides that we don't work
on them.

> Making a real language is a huge effort, almost like
Again, depends on your definition of a "real" language. Have I ever spoken in Ipratil
(one of my conlangs)? Yes. It's a saying they have on their world. But I didn't
post it because one of the verb conjugations changed. I agree with the huge
effort part. It is. But it's worth it. It's like building a shed in your
backyard. It may not pretty, but it's yours.

> building a pyramid. Team work is a necessity, and yet
> there is not much team work among the conlangers.
I disagree. I haven't asked any questions yet, but I've seen others ask about
everything from phonology, grammar, verb conjugations and suggestions for them,
even cultural ideas. But the entire CONLANG list doesn't work on only one
conlang. Each of us work together. I've offered my help a couple times.
Although once I was way off with my answer, the point is, I tried to help.

Team work is necessary. But some of us don't want a team of strangers doing the
work on someone very personal. We'll ask for help. When I need some help, I'll
ask. But like others, my conlang is mine. I have the final say. When I decided
upon the verb conjugations in Ipratil, I didn't ask. So Ipratil is begin
created by a team of one. But I like that I have advisors.

> are tools, while the languages discussed here are as
> useful as the pyramids. The main purpose of the
No, they're useful. The mind of a conlanger is probably a scary place for most.
Would you rather we conlangers fix your car? :) If you mean useful in an
auxlang viewpoint, then maybe not. But telling conlangers that their creations
aren't useful is like telling an artist his paintings are useless.

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