Re: Long Languages

On Tue, 4 May 1999, From Http://Members.Aol.Com/Lassailly/Tunuframe.Html wr=
ote:

> I would really like to know whether there are natlangs and conlangs whose
> minimal structures are even "longer" than mine (putting aside all optiona=
l
> weaponry some of us specialize in ;-), and how you feel handling these
> languages.
I can't help you on that; I was very surprised when I used a bit of
Valdyan text with the Dutch translation for a demonstration of
parallel columns (I wrote a book about WordPerfect) and the Valdyan
came out at about sixty percent of the Dutch. It comes out seventy
percent of English, by the way; English is slightly shorter than
Dutch. If my Valdyan weren't better than my German at the moment I'd
try that as well, because I have the impression that German is
slightly longer than Dutch because it still has case endings (which
Dutch has lost).

Drasel=E9q seems to be a very long language: when I did the translation
of Pablo Flores' bit of play (where are you, Pablo, and have you read
it?) some Valdyan sentences came out less than half the length of the
original.

> Is a "long language" a "retarded language" ?=20
I don't think so. Languages can "wear down" with use, but they can
also pick up extra morphemes, for instance when endings and such have
worn down into non-existence and the meaning becomes unclear.

> Mathias
> Taka-itu-Tunu
Translation, please? If it means "Mathias", how? (My name in
Boudewijn's conlang is "Pariyal" meaning "peace-friend", a literal
translation of my two Christian names, Irina Ruth)

   Irina


            Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastinay.
                     irina@rempt.xs4all.nl (myself)
     http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/irina/frontpage.html (English)
    http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/irina/backpage.html (Nederlands)