Re: A conlang free-for-all

On 5/22/06, Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:
> Some years ago on this list I tried to start up a
> collaborative conlang project that turned out to be
> impractical. But I think I may have found a way to
> make it work. So here's what I've done...
>
> I have built a web site with a database containing a
> few simple sentences in a proto-conlang I call Kalusa,
> along with an approximate translation of each sentence
> into English. These sentences form the seed corpus of
> the language.
>
> Anybody who wants to can add sentences directly into
> the corpus from the web page. This function is public,
> and fully automated. As soon as a new sentence is
> entered into the corpus by any user at any time all
> all the words in the sentence are instantly index and
> cross referenced in the database.
>
> Anybody who wants to can vote on whether a given
> sentence in the database is proper Kalusa or not. This
> function is public and fully automated.
>
> Any word, English or Kalusa, in any sentence in the
> corpus can be clicked on to bring up a list of all the
> sentences in the corpus that use that clicked-on word.
>
> There are no stated rules of grammar. The grammar will
> emerge as more sentences are added and voted upon.
>
> There is no set vocabulary. The vocabulary will emerge
> as sentences with novel words are added and voted
> upon.
>
> There is no dictionary. Instead, you can "look up" any
> English or Kalusa word by typing that word into a
> search box and pulling up every sentence in the corpus
> that contains the target word. From those sentences,
> and their acceptance rating by others, you can
> determine how to use that word properly in a Kalusa
> sentence.
>
> There is no final authority as to what is or is not
> proper Kalusa. The only authority is usage as found in
> the corpus, and anyone who visits the page can add to
> the corpus and vote on which usages they prefer.
> You will find it at: http://kalusa.fiziwig.com
Looks neat.  I've added a few sentences & will plan
to check back on it regularly.

--
Jim Henry
http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenry

Replies