my next project: language of the Mandai

Hi folks -

Most probably don't remember me, but I was here for awhile last year,
working on a language called Iltârer. I got occupied with other things, and
left both the language and my list participation to sit idle for awhile.

One of the things I like to do with my conlang projects is to explore
radical different models of reality, and to give linguistic expression to
them. In Iltârer, for example, the pronoun system reflects a radically
fluid conception of personal identity.

My next project is a language for a people called the Mandai, who tend to
view their experience not in terms of events, but in terms of
relationships, with a strong preference for symmetrical relationships. I
want to see how far I can push this idea. For example, the idea of A
killing B would be rendering in terms of two relationships: conflict (in
which A and B partake symmetrically) and (metaphorical) embrace between B
and Death.

The challenge in these kind of projects for me is to keep the unfamiliar
model of reality "alive" in the conlang, without it degenerating into just
a repertoire of odd idioms for expressing our own familiar concepts.

I'll be posting bits of the language sketch here as I go along.

Blessings, Tom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom Little                   tom@telp.com
Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA)
Telperion Productions        www.telp.com
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