Re: Conlang Software

Ed Heil wrote:
>
> OK, here's a description of my ideal for a vocabulary-generating
> program.
My ideal program would generate ... uh, never mind.

> http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~pound/#werd
Those are a lot of fun!

I have a BNF program that takes data files in modified/mutated
Backus-Naur-Format like this:

---

VOWEL ::= a | e | i | o | u
CONS  ::= b | c | d | f | g | j | k | l | m | n | p | q | r | s | t | v | x | z
CV    ::= CONS + VOWEL +

VOICE ::= i | u | a | e | o

P1  ::= [CV] + w + VOICE
S2  ::= [CV] + y + VOICE
T3  ::= [CV] + h + VOICE

SX  ::= (PX) {T3} S2
PX  ::= {SX} P1

SENTENCE ::= PX + ",," (SENTENCE)

---

... to generate phony sentences like so:

xuyu fogutugasaqeho tahe lesoyo tawi,,

One of the files generates Jeffery Hennings's pseudo-Indian names
like "Protecting Hammer"; other ideas are pretty easy to make up.
Remembering an old comedy routine about inventing rock band names ...
I did a partial simulation of Glosa (not much of a task) and use it
to test conlang syntax, usually it surprises me, usually unpleasantly.
BNF is cool because it's an easy and general solution.