Re: Good reads for the novice conlanger?

In a message dated 08/05/2002 04.00.19 PM, Dirk_Elzinga@BYU.EDU writes:

>At 6:13 PM +0000 8/5/02, Robert \"Neo\" Hill wrote:
>>Hello,
>>
>>         I am starting work on the most ambitious language project of
>>mine to date,
>>and I would like some good reading for a person with no linguistic
>>background. A few have made suggestions, but I have lost them in the sea
>of
>>endless conlang messages ;). Any common books I may be able to pick up
>at the
>>local library or used book store? Thanks in advance.
>
>_Describing Morphosyntax_, which Peter mentioned, is a bit advanced
>if you have "no linguistic background", but I second his
>recommendation. Another book that I frequently recommend is Sapir's
>_Language_. It assumes no linguistic background on the part of the
>reader, and is a good introduction to the study of language.
    besides _Describing Morphosyntax_ (which is an invaluable conlang
resource IMHO):

    - _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language_ 2nd edition, by David Crystal
is an extremely useful reference and resource

... and more for critique and inspiration than technical linguistic reference
(but these have some technical linguistics to various degrees, i.e.
auxlang-like pitfalls to avoid; linguistic myths/misinformation relentlessly
exposed; hints on how to make a more convincing "alien", "futuristic" or
"fantasy" language, etc.):

    - _The Search for the Perfect Language_ by Umberto Eco

    - _Aliens and Linguists: Language Study and Science Fiction_ by Walter E.
Meyers

    - _Imagining Language: An Anthology_ edited by Jed Rasula & Steve
McCaffery

€º°`°º€ø,¸¸,ø€º°`°º€ø,¸¸,ø€º°`°º€ø,¸¸,ø€º°`°º€ø,¸¸,ø€º°`°º€€º°`°º€ø,¸~->
Hanuman Zhang, 3-Toed-Sloth-Style Gungfu Typist  ;)

"the sloth is a chinese poet upsidedown" --- Jack Kerouac {1922-69}
--------------------------------------------------
    "There is no reason for the poet to be limited to words, and in fact the
poet is most poetic when inventing languages. Hence the concept of the poet
as 'language designer'."  --- O. B. Hardison, Jr.

"La poésie date d' aujour d'hui."   (Poetry dates from today)
"La poésie est en jeu."             (Poetry is in play)
                --- Blaise Cendrars

"...Poetry is perhaps the only insurance we've got against the vulgarity of
the human heart..." ~ Joseph Brodsky

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