Re: ,Language' in language name?
| From: | Padraic Brown <agricola@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, November 28, 2001, 21:53 |
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Am 27.11.01, Josh Roth yscrifef:
> >> My own projects often start with an "external" name assigned to it,
> >> especially as long as it's little more than a cloud of ideas
> >> and I can't say what the fictional speakers call it.
> >
> >Which, of course, isn't _really_ a name at all. "Germans" aren't
> >really German - they're "Deutsch". The external name is only a matter
> >of convenience - a handy label - for the external observer.
> >
> >> Jörg.
> >
> >Padraic.
>
> I think I disagree. Is a piano not really a piano, because that is not what a
> piano calls itself?
What they call themselves is, of course, unpronounceable by human
mouths. [We have rather too few strings and dampers and things to
speak that language!]
> "Deutsch" is just as much of a handy label as "German"
> is. All words are handy, convenient labels, and if we use a word x to apply
> to something, than that thing is x. Or more accurately, that thing is
> represented by x - and there is a certain group of people represented by
> words including "Deutsch" and "German." I don't see what makes one term real
> and another one not.
> Or am I misunderstanding you?
Possibly. We're talking about "external labels" we apply to our
conlangs / concultures. To me, at least, that name isn't as potent
or "real" as the Name given by the conpeople themselves. I suspect
Irina was pleased as punch to find out _at last_ what Valdyans call
their own language. I had wondered why Kerno stuck out like a sore
thumb in the midst of *brit- derived names all around; and was happy,
or at least satisfied to at last discover the truth.
I agree that all these names are just labels - but to my way of
looking at things, the labels given by the people concerned are of a
different order than those applied by outsiders. This viewpoint is
derived from my philosophy of conlanging: that of discovery, not
creation. I can't just sit down and say "these people I shall call
'Dacridations'" on a whim. I have to visualise them, look around,
explore and ask them what they call themselves. Just a minor
misunderstanding, I think!
> Josh Roth
Padraic.
--
Bethez gwaz vaz ha leal.
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