Re: my first conlang

On Thu, 12 Oct 2000, Patrick Jarrett wrote:

> Okay since Tierian is my first conlang, I want to see what process=20
> others go through, I have the alphabet down. And I have the Language=20
> Construction kit printed out and all, but I was wondering if I should=20
> write grammar first or do idioms first. Sorta a judgement call I=20
> imagine, but as I mentioned before Tierian will be very caste based with =
<G>  I have 100-200 pages of conlang references printed out from the
web.  They're real handy for traveling.  ;-)

I did grammar first, but a few idioms suggested themselves and I couldn't
resist.  OTOH starting with idioms might suggest grammar to you, and
produce neat naturalistic irregularities (I happen to like naturalism for
my current project; for Meep, OTOH, I probably want something extremely
regular).

> lots of greeting and farewell sayings. One of the things which I think=20
> will make Tierian different, but I haven't looked at too many other=20
> conlangs, and in the ones I have I havent seen this yet, but one of the=20
> interesting things about Tierian is that in the greeting and farewell=20
> will let all involved know where they stand with the other person.
>
> So for example, if two people meet on the street and engage in a=20
> conversation. The greeting would let each other know they have no=20
> standing (or just normal standing) and by the end of the conversation=20
> they would find out if they advanced in the feelings the other has for=20
> them first. Of course this allows people to lie about it and all, but it =
> would not be one of the "acceptable" topics to lie about.
Sort of like "face" in some Asian cultures?

I haven't even done greetings.  I may borrow the Korean versions, which
render as either "Stay in good health" or "Go in good health," depending
on whether the person you're addressing is staying (e.g. if you were
visiting them and were about to leave) or going (e.g. you both met for
dinner and are going your separate ways).

YHL