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Re: CHAT: Conlang and Writers

From:Sally Caves <scaves@...>
Date:Sunday, March 14, 1999, 22:35
John Cowan wrote:

> Sally Caves scripsit: > > > Unfortunately > > > M.A.R. Barker, the creator of Tsolyani, who is also local, didn't make > > > it to the convention that year. > > > > Yes, this has to be Minneapolis! He's a professor as well, isn't he?Does > > anybody know of what? > > Urdu studies. > > I spoke to him as a kid when I attended a DipCon (I forget the number) > held there. A hell of a fascinating fellow, and fervent believer in > the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.
I can imagine! So I'm sure he's perfectly aware of the effects of his language thatI describe below.I've been looking at Terry Donnelly's summation of Tsolyani (beautiful lacy script),but while I like Barker's development of new "gender" categories (noble, ignoble, and non- classifiable), I can't say I like their application: basimkoi, "man" (noble); humedhikh "woman" (ignoble)! Terry says it's rigidly patriarchal and hierarchical, and then adds somewhat humorously ("why don't more women study it, don't you think"?) Well... I can see inventing a language that recreates all the errors of the world--my own Teonaht turned its "gendered" articles--male and female--into determiners of agency--volitional and non-volitional respectively. Artlangs don't have to redress and improve upon the social problems of real cultures (as some of us perceive them!). But I wonder if Tsolyani was intended mostly for male players of the Empire of the Petal Throne, or if that's just the premise of the language and the world of Tekumel, or a reflection of Barker's own contact with Urdu and Pakistan (I'm assuming that's where he's from? or his parents? Muhammed etc. Barker--long name)? Is Terry right in saying that few women learn this language and participate in Tekumel? This thread seems to be the "feminine corner"! Sally Caves