Re: CHAT: The profile of a conlanger

OOH!  There's an idea.  What kind of conlanger would each of the
sixteen character types typically be?

Here's a beginning -- starting from the four basic types:

NT (Architects): Creates an amazingly elegant but possibly completely
unusable loglang.  Designs _a priori_ vocabulary according to elegant
and abstruse rules.  Typical conlangs: Lojban, Allnoun, Rick Morneau's
stuff?.

NF (Idealists): Constantly searching for an ideal, authentic conlang
that truly expresses their ideals.  Probably never get near a final
product. Typical Conlangs: Esperanto, Vorlin.

SP (Artists/Performers): Create an aesthetically gorgeous language
which they improvise as they go along.  Typical conlangs: Quenya &
Sindarin, Teonaht, Denden, many others used by people active on the
list.

SJ ("Guardians"): If they understand conlanging at all,they create an
extremely realistic conlang which obeys all the rules of their
favorite linguistic theory.  (More likely to just try to make everyone
learn Esperanto or Lojban.)  Try to get everyone else to obey all the
rules too.  Very picky about correct use of linguistic terminology.
They'd really more likely be prescriptive grammarians than conlangers,
however.  Classic Conlangs: Ido.

Those are just based on total stereotypes though. :)

Seriously, though, however well or poorly the Myers-Briggs types fit
the real range of people's personalities, I think you'd see these
tendencies....

I rather than E because conlanging is fairly internal.  If you do get
an E, then they're probably intent on using the conlang in a story or
roleplaying game rahter than just creating it for its own sake.

N or S -- Close call.  N typically is interested in things that might
exist rather than things that do exist, but S encourages the kind of
research and attention to objective detail that many conlangers bring
to their projects.

T or F -- Another close call.  T-type conlangers will be into it
because they like building elegant abstract language structures;
F-type conlangers will be into it to write poetry.

P or J -- J-types will probably have the organization and
sticktoitiveness needed to actually finish and exhaustively describe
their conlangs, but the J-type personality seems antithetical to
things which are unconventional and whimsical, so in that way I'd
expect more P's.  The J's that are there will be the ones that
actually finish conlangs. :)






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             edheil@postmark.net
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Barry Garcia wrote:

> Paul.Bennett@xncorp.com writes:
> >Anyone who wants to share their results is encouraged to, either publicly
> >or
> >privately.  I turn out to be INTP, apparently, which I interpret as
> >meaning I
> >ought to be an auxlanger instead of an artlanger.  My earliest conlang
> >efforts
> >were auxlangs, I suppose, so there may be something in it after all...
>
> Well, heres mine:
>
> Your Temperament is Artisan : SP
> Your variant temperament is Composer : ISFP
>
> From what I read about my type, on the conlanging side, I am suited to
> being an artlanger which I consider myself. The description seems to suit
> me very well.
>
> Further, the description says of my type:
>
> While all the Artisans are artistic in nature, Composers (perhaps ten per
> cent of the population) seem to excel in the "fine arts," having not only
> a natural grace of movement, but also an innate sense what fits and what
> doesn't fit in artistic compositions.
>
> I find it interesting, since I have always excelled in things like
> drawing. Also, from what I gather from my art professor this semester, I
> have a good sense of composition in my work.
>
>
> _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
>
> 'The beginning calls for courage; the end demands care'
>