Re: Has anyone made a real conlang?

On Monday 21 April 2003 04:35 pm, Andrew Nowicki 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
> of the person who invented the names.
        Au contraire--while many conlangs are still in the tweaking and testing
stage, there are many "real" conlangs (which in itself is a misleading term).

> I doubt a
> language can be used for simple everyday communication
> unless it has a vocabulary of at least 1000 words.
> Has  anyone in this mailing list made a real conlang?
        Yes, and I expect you will be hearing from them shortly.

> Making a real language is a huge effort, almost like
> building a pyramid. Team work is a necessity, and yet
> there is not much team work among the conlangers.
        Probably because all conlangs that are created by a committee die a rather
sudden death. In the case of conlangs, team work is a great hinderance,
rather than a help. All the great conlang masterpieces have been solo
performances; I can't think of any committee conlang that would qualify as a
"masterpiece," although I suspect that some would disagree with me. (I.e.,
NGL, Folkspraak, etc. But NGL is moribund and I'm not really sure of the
status of Folkspraak.)

> Linux programmers have the opposite mind set - they
> love to work together, and often improve work of
> others instead of reinventing the wheel. Perhaps the
> reason for the difference is that the Linux programs
> are tools, while the languages discussed here are as
> useful as the pyramids. The main purpose of the
> pyramid is to say "My unique pyramid is sky high
> and made of white marble. I do not share it with anyone."
        Er...you know, I love Linux (it's been my only desktop for four years), but
sometimes you need to just take a step outside and get a reality check. Not
everything prospers when blessed with a committee. There's a wise proverb
that says, "Too many cooks spoil the soup." Most of the people here are
interested in conlang as an art, and are not interested in conlangs as tools,
expect when playing mind games, but then that's not a tool, but a toy.
        Plus, you obviously have not been around the FLOSS[1] community long--the
NIH[2] syndrome runs rampant. Just search freshmeat.net for "text editor" to
see how many times you can re-invent the wheel. There for a while, not a week
went by that some PFY[3] didn't announce the creation of a new mp3
player...which was usually just a front end for another mp3 player.
        And the main purpose of pyramids is to house a pharoah's mummy and keep it
safe from grave robbers.[4] ;>
        :Peter
[1] Free/Libre Open Source Software[5]
[2] Not Invented Here
[3] Pimply-Faced Youth
[4] And we all know how successful that was...
[5] An acronym with no other purpose than to keep everyone[6] happy.
[6] I.e., the RMSites vs. the ESRites.

--
Oh what a tangled web they weave who try a new word to conceive!

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