Re: A'liath: This is completely insane

Andreas Johansson wrote:
> That actually works out at a mere 76 204 800 combinations, according to my
> calculator, and that assumes that you really has four genders - it says
> '4',
> but apparently only three are listed in the parenthesis.
I already corrected myself on this. Regarding the four genders, by
"A'liathian/worldly and animate/inanimate" I meant that gender was
distinguished on two axes: A'liathian vs. worldly, and animate vs.
inanimate. Regarding only having half as many prefixes as I said I did,
I forgot to list the intentionality distinction, which doubles the
number again.

> I suspect that a language that has to incode that lot of information in
> every verb would turn agglutinative out of sheer self-defense, or the
> brains
> of its speakers'd explode. Go all the way to the agglutinative end of the
> spectrum and get a language where every verb starts with a string of twelve
> prefices! Would probably erode terribly fast, tho', if the speakers are
> human, at least.
But, see, they're *not* human. In fact, they are at the extreme end of
the "brains versus brawn" spectrum, and can only sustain their frail
bodies via force of will and magic. So half the reason for this form of
language was to demonstrate just how powerful their minds really are.
The problem here isn't with the realism, but rather with my ability to
actually *create* this language within one lifetime.

> BTW, isn't it slightly weird to agree with the number and person with both
> subject and object(s?), but agree with only the gender of the subject?
Oh, no no no.... the verbs themselves are gendered. Or, more
specifically, they are the same words as the nouns, separated only by
what particular affix is used. (Giving a certain prefix to the base
morpheme for "to read" would give "a reader", for example, while another
might give "the thing read" [or "readee"].)

- Ian Maxwell
--
C'est la vie, c'est la guerre, c'est la pomme de terre.

CONLANGER CODE: CU v1.1 !lm+ cN:R:N:H a+ y n19:1 !B* A+ E--- L+ N1<2 Im
k-- ia@:@ p@ s@ m- o P-- S--- A'liath