Re: Ebisedian tutorial

--- "H. S. Teoh" wrote:

> Spurred by recent reactions to Ebisedian (by unfortunate victims of
> translation relays :-P), I've come to realize that pointing people at a
> reference grammar, or even attaching a crash-course grammar, is
> insufficient to explain how Ebisedian works, even at the most basic level.
Well, your crash-course grammar was quite good as a matter of fact, though it
definitely left some questions unanswered. But those were usually solved by the
reference grammar. Anyway, I didn’t feel unfortunate at all, I rather enjoyed
crushing my teeth on Ebisedian.

> So, I've decided that I need to write a tutorial, that will cover the
> basics in the simplest, most understandable manner possible, using many
> concrete examples instead of just giving general principles and leaving it
> up to the reader to fill in the blanks. But in order for this to be of any
> help, I (badly) need feedback. So I'd really appreciate it if people would
> please take a look at the initial draft of the tutorial here:
>
> (PostScript)    http://quickfur.yi.org:8080/~hsteoh/conlang/tutorial.ps
> (PDF)           http://quickfur.yi.org:8080/~hsteoh/conlang/tutorial.pdf
>
> And tell me if it's clear, or still as obtuse as ever. Especially
> section 2, which talks about noun cases. (Noun cases appear to be the most
> confusing part of Ebisedian to people, it seems. That's why I'm covering
> that first.)
>
> Comments? suggestions? flames? fan-mail? ;-)
It’s an excellent beginning. Clear, easy, and understandable, that’s the
primary aim of a tutorial, and I think you succeed very well in achieving it.
I like the examples as well, especially if there is a lot of them. Don't be
thrifty with them.

However, to be frank, it was not the case system that presented me with
problems. This part was, by the way, well-explained in your crash-course
grammar. Most difficulties I had with subordinate clauses. In some of those ni
... di ... constructions the modifier has one case, the modified noun after the
clause a second case, and the particle itself a third case). I am really
curious to see this part explained in a tuturial; will it look that easy
afterwards as well?

Anyway, keep up the good work.

--- JS Bangs wrote:

> I found this tutorial quite clear and easy to understand. In fact,
> explained this way, I fail to see how people could find these concepts
> difficult in the first place--but perhaps I'm prejudiced by the fact that
> I've sketched out conlangs with very similar systems.
Well, as I wrote above, Ebisedian is much more than this. The concepts
described in the tutorial are unusual, indeed, but not particularly
complicated. Wait till you see the modifier part. Then the fun really begins.

> Incidental remarks: I'd always disliked Ebisedan based on its unconsciably
> ugly ASCII representation scheme, but seeing it in the PDF as it was
> "supposed" to look, I found it quite pleasant. What a surprise!
I agree. ASCII makes it look like a nasty alien language, while its "real" look
in the PDF makes it feel like velvet.

I’m eager to hear some Ebisedian as well. I assume the language must have a
pleasant sound and would fit well with music. Especially the glottal stop at
the beginning of a word (known to singers as "glotty-schlag") opens
perspectives.

Jan


=====
"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones

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