Re: Iniital fragments of a non-human language

On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 15:46:33 -0800, Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:

> --- Paul Bennett <paul-bennett@...> wrote:
>> I'm riffing here, so try to bear with me while I try
>> not to spill over into
>> the realms of the hard-to-follow or barely-literate.
>>
>> Hmm.
>>
>> I think it's Werewolf language, but that's open to
>> change. In some of my
>> notes, I describe it as "Lizardman".
>
> Do lizards have lips?  How would they pronounce
> bilabials?
>
Note that the phonology of the language as described included no
requirement of labial control: no rounded vowels, and no bilabial or
labiodental sounds. No approximants, no taps, no rhotics, no nasals and no
laterals. Also, there is no need for a vaulted palette, nor for a
particularly prehensile tongue. There's no need for conscious glottal
control, nor any real overpowering need for conscious breathing control.
All in all, it's a language designed to be spoken without the evolutionary
advantages which make human language so easy for the human animal.
Importantly (to me), I fullfilled these lofty goals without either reducing
or increasing the phoneme-count outside of the range found in most natlangs
-- 24 total phonemes. There are around 2,200 possible syllables.

The grammar is hopefully going to be the most non-European of my conlangs
to date, and might venture outside anadewity, if I can do so in a plausible
way.






Paul