Re: JG's list of conlangs
| From: | Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, July 22, 2003, 12:22 |
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--- James Worlton skrzypszy:
>> What is the purpose behind this list?
>>
>> If appropriate, should replies be made to the
>> List or privately to this Janko person?
>
> A few weeks ago he emailed people off-list asking
> for the numbers 1-10 in their conlang(s). Some people
> replied and never heard from him again. I replied and
> did hear from him again, and he has sent a few requests
> that I forward to the list.
> (He is not subscribed--he apparently goes thru the
> archives on Yahoo at a public library wherever he lives.)
> His purpose for collecting the numbers is just that--
> collecting. I posted on this a few weeks ago, so it's
> in the archives.
Well, I haven't received anything from him (yet). Should I feel insulted? ;)
As for the motivation behind such a collection: why not? Why do people
conlang at all? To me, collecting numbers seems at least as natural as
collecting stamps or coins. As a matter of fact, I am collecting numbers
too, as some of you might have noticed. IMO, numbers are among the most
elementary things in human speech, and they give away a lot about the
character of a language. My earliest recollections of linguistic interest
were all connected to numbers, long before I could even read or write.
Since then, I have been collecting. When I discovered Mark Rosenfelder's
numbers page, I was happy to find out that I was not the only one. So why
wouldn't Janko Gorenc have been bitten by the same bug? Based on what I
have read, I don't see any reason to assume that he is not genuine in his
motivations.
If he wants, Janko can get all the stuff I have.
Jan
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