Re: Future of Spanish

Sally Caves wrote:

> There you are, Matthew!  I'd forgotten your name.  Another fiction
> writer on the list!  what is the extent of your language cobbling?
> How extensively do you incorporate it in your fiction?
>
> Sally
> scaves@frontiernet.net
> http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves
Hi Sally,

Well, given that I sometimes go by my first name (Syd) and sometimes
by my middle name (Mathew) I can understand the confusion : )

Well, while I was writing my first novel (The Argo) the languages of
three different cultures sort of began to take shape on their own.  I
have no formal background in linguistics but I find it a fascinating
field
so I'm trying to learn more about it.

It all started because many of the main characters in The Argo would
never use English colloquialisms in everyday speech (since most of
them have never even heard of English) so I have them
cussing and using proverbs from their native tongues.  In my actual
fiction, the conlangs are pretty much restricted to a few phrases
peppered in the dialogue, names of people and places and technical
terminology.

When I started teaching myself Latin I began to understand how much
language shapes our world-view and our basic assumptions.  In order to
write about characters from cultures completely different form ours, I
found
that developing their langauge helped me to understand (and thus better
express in my narrative) what makes those cultures unique.

My notes on Alevain are pretty old but, after discovering this list, I
felt it
would be worthwhile to update them and put them in html format.  I'll
probably be doing the same with my other conlangs.

The Argo wound up being pretty long, so I'm not sure if it will get
published
with appendices for each of my 3 concultures.  Sooo, readers may be
directed to my website for complete glossaries and notes.  Then again,
the
entire novel may wind up being published on my website anyway.

A tutorial in Alevain is at:

http://ggms.com/willoughby/alevain/contents.htm

Chapter 1 of "The Argo" is online at:

http://ggms.com/willoughby/fiction/fiction.htm

Alevain and its speakers, The Vayeum (AKA, Feii
in Latine) don't make an appearance until the second
part of the novel.  There will probably be future novels,
however, that deal primarily with Vay protagonists and
with the Alevain culture.

I was skimming through your pages on Teonaht the day before
last.  I've barely scratched the surface yet though.  I'm impressed
with the conlang.  I visualize it in a sort of surreal modern fantasy
type setting.  Am I on track?  Is Teonaht featured in much of your
fiction?

P.S.  I LOVE the winged cat logo (so does Emmy, my feline
companion, who has come to help humanity or to control it...
oh no, sorry, that's the Taelons 8-)