Re: T-Shirt yet again

"H. S. Teoh" wrote:

> > Greetings!  I don't believe you know me, but I've heard a lot about your
> > conlanging work and have had the pleasure, during a rare moment when I
> > had time to browse the web, of contemplating Teonaht, though alas I
> > haven't been able to read it in detaill.
> [snip]
>
> *raises hand* Here's another Teonaht fan :-)
>
> I like Teonaht mainly because it has a ... um... *natural* feel to it. For
> some reason, even though I still barely grasp the basic grammar, it just
> "feels" right. I wish I knew the secret of how to make a lang that "feels"
> natural. :-)
>
> T
Double WOW!  Ailly!   I wish I had an easy "Teach Yourself Teonaht"
page up there.  The one I put up a year ago is hopelessly outdated
now that I've changed the capricious post-clitic indefinite particles.
Maybe I should follow something sort of like "Welsh is Fun-tastic" by
Heini Gruffydd.

It feels natural to me, too; I've worked hard trying to make it so,
but remember that T. is a thirty year project of mine, and some of
its idioms just grew.  I can pretty much tell if it's a tacked on
gimmick, like the stupid post-clitic indefinites.  Or when T. was
"ergative" for a month.  Didn't work.  Another conlang that sounds
natural to me is Tokana.  Is Matt Pearson still on the list?

Tell me about your conlang, and you too, Yoon Ha Lee.

Sally
--
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scaves@frontiernet.net

"The gods have retractible claws."
                                from _The Gospel of Bastet_
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