Re: How to evaluate a conlang

Staving João Ricardo de Mendonça:
>How do you evaluate a conlang? How do you define a "good" or a "bad"
>conlang? I understand this is a personal criteria, so I'm not looking
>for a definitive answer. I just wanted to know other people's opinions
>on this.
I personally would start by reviewing the artistic aims of the creator. Are
his or her aims interesting, or coherent? Are they flawed in some way (e.g.
setting a goal that cannot realistically be achieved)? Does the conlang
achieve its stated aims, and how does it go about doing so? e.g. Kélen aims
to be a convincingly alien language, and does this by abolishing the large
open class of verbs, found in all human languages, with a small, closed
class of relationals. I find it one of the most convincing alien languages
I've seen. Is the language intelligible? Try translating a passage - relays
are good for this. Finally, how do you find the language from an aesthetic
point of view? This is the most subjective bit, of course, and one where
you might find yourself at odds with the creator's design goals.

Pete

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