Re: A different strategy for conlang design

--- Philippe Caquant <herodote92@...> wrote:
> --- Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:
<snip>
> > Begin with a small book, perhaps even a children's
> > book or a "young adult" novel like the Hardy Boys
> or
> > Nancy Drew, (Or maybe Harry Potter!) and starting
> at
> > page one, paragraph one, just write a translation
> > into
> > some previously non-existant conlang, right off
> the
> > top of your head, inventing words and grammatical
> > principles as you go along.  Don't back track,
> just
> > keep forging ahead, straight through the whole
> book.
>
> Oh, great. I'll try at once. I choose "Le Petit
> Prince", from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, of course.
>
> "Lorsque j'avais six ans j'ai vu, une fois, une
> magnifique image, dans un livre sur la Forêt Vierge
> qui s'appelait 'Histoires Vécues'."
>
> Sixbin bellismimaj wansmesaw, 'Livstori'-kal
> Virjiforestbukn.
<snip>

hehe.

Here's one ad-lib'ed off the top of my head.  I
haven't double-checked it for consistency yet, so
there may be grammatical errors in the translation.
This is from Grimm's Fairy Tales:

THE FOX AND THE HORSE (First paragraph only)

A farmer had a horse
that had been an excellent faithful servant to him:
but he was now grown too old to work;
so the farmer would give him nothing more to eat,
and said, "I want you no longer,"
"so take yourself off out of my stable;"
"I shall not take you back again until you are
stronger than a lion."

Vamar hu quisan hadibi eswa.
Quisan aki lobitu plusku pin yalifu koi vamar biswati.
Sinche, quisan ubiarku zeno niabliterfin biscuwati.
Quede, nitiamus pochem atis tonowabi.
Sinche, vamar so paluwabi; "nitiamus doyo tesirbi."
"Balnatu tamiu teparnayo."
"Stobe gonjada peliro biscunuyo toche lefu doyo
tesirnubi."

[Farmer which horse did-he-have did-exist.]
[Horse this, servant good and loyal for farmer
it-was.]
[Then-alas, horse very-old so cannot-work it-became.]
[Thus, nevermore food to-it gave-him.]
[Then-alas, farmer thusly spoke-he; "nevermore you
I-want."]
["Stable of-mine leave-you-now."]
["When strong-as lion you-shall-become then again you
I-shall-want."]

--gary