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Re: OT: Whatever

From:Dirk Elzinga <dirk.elzinga@...>
Date:Friday, December 21, 2007, 22:51
On Dec 21, 2007 1:47 PM, Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:

> --- "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...> wrote: > > <snip> > > > > although I enjoy seeing discussions of other interesting* conlangs, and > even > > > natlangs, provided it's not about phonetics and phonemes. > > > > > > Gary Shannon? Is that you? > > > > Nope, not me. True, I'm not particularly interested in phonetics as it > relates > to conlanging for the simple reason that every language has dialects and > accents, so describing the *precise* pronunciation of a conlang seems > rather > pointless.
Now, this is interesting, since it seems you are assuming that languages are constructed in order to be spoken. If this were always the case, you would be right; everyone imposes their own peculiar pronunciation habits on whatever language they are speaking and the narrow specification of pronunciation isn't likely to help a great deal (although general guidelines are useful). The languages I'm most interested in working on and reading about are not languages that I would ever want to learn to speak. They are fictions. I enjoy reading fiction, but not because I want to live in the worlds that are depicted. For me, the more fully an imagined world is depicted, the more satisfying the fiction. Likewise, a constructed language which narrowly specifies pronunciation and sound alternations is more satisfying to me than one which gives a perfunctory phoneme inventory and then moves on to "more interesting" matters. I am a phonologist by training and profession, and the phonology *is* the interesting part. (Of course, grammar is interesting as well.)
> I do, however, enjoy reading discussions on YAEPT, since dialects > and accents are interesting in non-conlang contexts.
Even though I am a phonologist, I find the YAEPT threads to be extremely tedious. I have a copy of Wells' _Accents of English_, and a handful of other reference works on English phonetics and phonology, so I don't really want or need more of it from this list. So I generally just move on when these threads come up. And yet I haven't felt a need to give up this list or to discontinue reading it. I may not post a lot anymore, but I do follow the discussion as much as I am able.
> --gary >
Dirk

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Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>