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"Godless phonemes without complex voice modulation apparatus"

From:B. Garcia <madyaas@...>
Date:Monday, April 25, 2005, 12:00
On the Live Journal conlangs community one member posted a transliteration 
of her conlang into Devanagari (she says she uses the Bangla (Bengali) 
script to write it. She gave an English translation, but when I asked her to 
do an IPA tranlisteration so we could see how "graceful and lilting" the 
language is, she said that "Terrestrial beings are frustratingly incapable 
of synthesising its godless phonemes without complex voice modulation 
apparatus". If it is impossible to convey how a language that humans can't 
speak through IPA, then how would Bangla be better?

My view is that she should at least give us an impression of how it is into 
at least a description. I wonder what it must sound like if it's lilting and 
graceful? But mostly, is it impossible to give an impression of a conlang 
that is presumably impossible for us mundane earthlings to simulate with out 
speech? Is it reasonable to present it without some sort of way to give us 
an impression of it? What other ways are there to represent a language which 
humans cannot speak? I know that the Rikchik use sign language, which is 
elegantly rendered in a script of its own. 

All I could really say to the person who posted, is that the Bangla or 
Devanagari is pretty, but I could say the same about an ad written in Hindi. 
It gives me no impression of her statement that the language is lilting and 
graceful.


-- 
They'll have a big parade for every day that you stay clean
But when the trumpets fade, you'll go under like a submarine
And you won't see it coming, no you won't see it coming

Replies

B. Garcia <madyaas@...>
Ray Brown <ray.brown@...>
B. Garcia <madyaas@...>
Muke Tever <hotblack@...>