Re: And now... a new conlang!

On Fri, 13 Aug 1999, Barry Garcia wrote:

> I wouldn't have it any other way :). Well i think i've decided to go
> without using a copula. Since my new conlang is not following another
> language, i have to be careful to not do things as we do in English (like
> use "to be" in idiomatic ways, and other lovely things).
I think pointedly trying to avoid doing something as it's done in
another language is a mistake. I tried that, after I'd been accused
of "plagiarism" (by someone who couldn't tell me what I was supposed
to be plagiarizing but it was bad enough) and it almost stopped me
working on Valdyan at all. *Everything* has been done; at least
everything that works. Even if you go for the most outrageous
irregularity, chances are that some language somewhere already has
something like it. If something turns out to work the same as in
English, you can always try to find out whether you derived it from
English, or if it just happens to work the same way before you throw
it away.

   Irina

            Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastynay.
                     irina@rempt.xs4all.nl (myself)
       http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/irina/index.html (English)
    http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/irina/backpage.html (Nederlands)