Re: New to the list

Padraic Brown wrote:

>
>On Thu, 15 Jun 2000, Oskar Gudlaugsson wrote:
>
> >Dear list-members of Conlang,
> >
> >My name is Oskar Gudlaugsson and I'm 20 years old from Iceland. I'm a
> >polyglott and linguistics-enthusiast who uses conlanging for personal
> >expression. Sound familiar?
>
>Oo! Islenskr madhr! (allowing for spelling errors) Welcome to the
>list.
Thanks for the welcome. No actual spelling errors, only archaisms ;) A more
modern spelling is "íslenskur maður", or, the way I want it, "íslenskur
madur". Always flattering to see people exhibit interest in Icelandic. I'm
pretty objective as a linguist, but I'd still say that my own native
language has many interesting characteristics, mainly lexical.

> >I'm well aware that discussions on auxlangs are not allowed on this list.
>
>That is quite right! If convicted, your arms and legs will be cut off
>(one at a time) and your tongue will will be pulled out from the root;
>after which, you may then issue an apology and fly the country.
I've been warned. But, really, don't worry. I fled the AUXLANG list because
I hate just the same things that you guys hate and therefore ban from here.

The last time I
> >presented my ideas the only comments I got were "How will you propagate
> >this language?".
>
>Hm. Here we tell you how neat your language is, and ask what kind of
>cultures or races speak it; how long you've been working at it; how
>it works, etc. etc. Though, since you seem to be into auxlangs as
>conlangs, the first question is moot.
Not exactly "moot". I lurked on this list a little while and noticed how you
immediately define new conlangs that you're discussing, by the questions you
pose; when a conlanger makes a language, the first question s/he asks
him/herself is "who speaks it?"; that is the main factor in the design of
the language, right? So when I'm designing the IAL-type languages I'm
currently interested in (note the 'currently' - I'll probably get on to
something different sometime soon), my answer to the question is "the 6
billion+ people of planet Earth, in a remote future". And that then has
certain implications for the design. So it's the same method that you all
use here. And the speakers of my languages are equally "fantastic" or, that
is, hypothetical, as the speakers of the various fantasy-languages designed
here. You get my point?

>Allright then, what kind of language are you banging together? Is it
>recognisable or something entirely new? Is it based on some regional
>group of languages? Etc.?
Recognizable? To some an extent, yes. Much as New World pidgins are to the
colonial overpowers. It is of course mainly based on major languages, just
like Danny Wier's B6. My favorite sources are English, Spanish, and
Mandarin. But many "international" words are not always found in those three
(such as "ananas"), but will still find their way into my pidgin.

I want to kindly ask permission to post some of my design ideas
> >here, even though they are about IALs. Their real nature is much
> >rather "conlangish" or even "artlangish". Would that be okay?
>
>Peachy!
Once again, thanks to Padraic and the rest of the list for a warm welcome.
I'm already very encouraged by the friendly atmosphere here, and am looking
forward to presenting my work. So long! :):)

Oskar
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