Re: conculture

'Ua kakau 'o William Annis:

----- Original Message -----

> Having said that, *other* constructed cultures often have a
> serious impact on the development of the language. Vaior's tendencies
> with respect to politeness, some vocabulary, and the discussions of
> auspicious and inauspicious numbers have to do with a recent rereading
> of a lot of C.J. Cherryh. So, a quick glance through the dictionary
> (http://www.execpc.com/"wsannis/vaior/orinambe.html) will turn up
> several words for "peace." Those came from some thinking after
> reading about the Mri (The Faded Sun trilogy).
>
> Right now I'm reading the Wraeththu books by Storm
> Constantine, so Vaior may soon acquire an occult vocabulary I'll
> probably not use much. Perhaps I'll adjust some of the ideas to fix a
> non-hermaphrodite culture. :)
C. J. Cherryh rocks! I've just finished reading a few of the hani books for
the umpteenth time, and I own a most battered copy of the Faded Sun trilogy.
And the Wraeththu books are good too. Between that culture and Láadan's use
of a word for the female/receptive role in penetrative sex, I've been
wondering what my own slowly-developing language will use... Especially
since the gay men I know who define themselves as "tops" tend to do so
negatively, i.e. "I don't get f*cked." Maybe there's something there.

Question about Láadan: does anyone have the teaching materials? What is your
impression of it? I'm thinking of getting it to mine for lexemes...

Doug

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