Search found 219 matches

by Curlyjimsam
07 Sep 2020 11:26
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: If you were to write one novel...
Replies: 41
Views: 15278

Re: If you were to write one novel...

After several false starts with other settings, I've now finally written a novel set in the "past" of my conworld, which I'm currently releasing in installments here . It's set in a period technologically and socially similar in many ways to early nineteenth century Europe, and I've gone f...
by Curlyjimsam
03 Aug 2020 21:51
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Replies: 1106
Views: 281966

Re: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here

Evni Öpiu-sä wrote: 02 Aug 2020 09:51 My newest and largest conlang's name is pronounced [ˈlɑnriuŋ] in the language. How is it spelled in English?
I personally would go for Lanriung. Laanreoong or something might more reliably get you the right pronunciation, but I think it looks a bit weird.
by Curlyjimsam
12 Jul 2020 19:31
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: What would be the best approach for an Antarctic 'lang?
Replies: 20
Views: 10265

Re: What would be the best approach for an Antarctic 'lang?

I guess a relevant question to ask for this is when the Antarcticans are supposed to have arrived there in the first place. If relatively recently (I dunno, a thousand years), then an observable relationship with some other language very far south is more likely, but if they've been there some time ...
by Curlyjimsam
12 Jul 2020 19:22
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: What if Aztlan and Atlantis were cognate names?
Replies: 23
Views: 8980

Re: What if Aztlan and Atlantis were cognate names?

Salmoneus is right that is a place-name suffix: Az-tlan gives us the name of the place (cf. Tenochtitlan and lots of others), and Az-tēcah the name of the people.
by Curlyjimsam
05 May 2020 22:54
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: The longest and the shortest word in your conlang
Replies: 29
Views: 16151

Re: The longest and the shortest word in your conlang

Viksen has a few words which consist of just one phoneme: a "one" (number), á "at, to", e "he/she", i "one" (impersonal pronoun), u "I", ai /i/ "oh yes!", au /u/ "same". The longest word in the lexicon at the moment is tig·wódég·o...
by Curlyjimsam
29 Apr 2020 17:39
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: How NOT to Conworld.
Replies: 275
Views: 87140

Re: How NOT to Conworld.

Nobody on my conworld strictly resembles people from any real-world race. While they are basically human, the distribution of "racial characteristics" is entirely different.
by Curlyjimsam
29 Apr 2020 17:23
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: the Eastern Semihemisphere?
Replies: 7
Views: 2267

Re: the Eastern Semihemisphere?

There's at least some overlap with "the Far East", depending on exactly which region you're thinking of. "The Very Far East"?? It's not perfect, but it's not so many syllables ...
by Curlyjimsam
21 Apr 2020 19:40
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: Some questions about part of speech
Replies: 6
Views: 2315

Re: Some questions about part of speech

Part of the purpose of this sort of exercise (at least at graduate level, I would hope) is to get students to think about tricky questions - is "eating" really a verb here? Why isn't it an adjective or a noun, given it can be used as an adjective or a noun in other contexts? "give me ...
by Curlyjimsam
19 Mar 2020 16:52
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: Postpositional to Prespositional: Side-Effects? Even Possible?
Replies: 4
Views: 1676

Re: Postpositional to Prespositional: Side-Effects? Even Possible?

A consequence of the shift from postpositional to prepositional order may be that a limited class of elements continue to be postpositions even in a language which is generally prepositional (e.g. English ago , or the postpositional use of through Salmoneus gives). Something it's also worth being aw...
by Curlyjimsam
29 Jul 2019 19:03
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: Is diachronic conlanging worth it?
Replies: 10
Views: 5489

Re: Is diachronic conlanging worth it?

The one really big advantage of having a proto-language is that it allows you an easy way of coming up with related languages, or of representing texts from earlier stages of the language if you decide to delve into the history of your culture. Trying to work backwards and create realistic relatives...
by Curlyjimsam
23 May 2019 12:23
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: Jumping down rabbit holes with conlangs and concultures
Replies: 4
Views: 3245

Re: Jumping down rabbit holes with conlangs and concultures

When I create a world specifically as a setting for a work of fiction, I tend to find myself distracted by irrelevant details sooner or later. I have, for example, a 2000-year royal genealogy and a fairly detailed conlang sketch for one novel series that are unlikely to ever find their way into the ...
by Curlyjimsam
22 Mar 2019 14:01
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: Writing a Fictional Anthropology: How Do You Do It?
Replies: 11
Views: 4830

Re: Writing a Fictional Anthropology: How Do You Do It?

Salmoneus wrote: 18 Mar 2019 01:27 Does anyone have a link to that real cross-cultural survey that was around a few years ago? It was sort of a WALS for anthropology...
Do you mean the Ethnographic Atlas? There's a version at https://d-place.org/contributions/EA .

(Even if this isn't what you meant, it's still a useful resource.)
by Curlyjimsam
22 Feb 2019 18:29
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: The Conculture/Conpeople Opinions Thread
Replies: 501
Views: 181072

Re: The Conculture/Conpeople Opinions Thread

Many Viksorians, especially the richer sort, keep horses as pets. Dogs are popular, and there's a bit of a thing for domesticated foxes. There is an armadillo-like creature is kept as a pet commonly enough not to be thought of as unusual, though due to its size a big house or garden is usually requi...
by Curlyjimsam
22 Feb 2019 18:18
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: what should my bug people eat
Replies: 11
Views: 5350

Re: what should my bug people eat

I think they should eat the same things as real bugs do (which gives you a range of options). I don't think sapient species eating each other is necessarily bad. Why should your spider people have the same moral views as twenty-first century humans?
by Curlyjimsam
18 Feb 2019 14:27
Forum: Translations
Topic: Conlang accents
Replies: 83
Views: 29575

Re: Conlang accents

Viksen: [ɔ hiumæn bijiɳʐ ɑ bɔn fri æn ikwɔ in diɡniti æn rajts. dɛj ɑ indawd wid rizæn æn kɔɳʂænz æn ʂæd ak tæwɔdz wæn ænædæ in æ sæpirit æv brædæhæd] Greater Atlian: [aːl hiuːmen bijin aːɾ baːɾn fɾi en i ikwel in diɡniti en ɾaitse. dej aːɾ endaud wid ɾiːsen en konʃense en ʃed akte towaːd wan enadeɾ...
by Curlyjimsam
18 Feb 2019 14:14
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: underused settings in world building
Replies: 49
Views: 14447

Re: underused settings in world building

No, we have a lot more school settings. School has the great advantage that everybody has to be there, whether they want to be or not, which automatically creates a narrative. University, people are only there because they want to be, and they have much more power over their own lives, which is muc...
by Curlyjimsam
08 Feb 2019 15:10
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: underused settings in world building
Replies: 49
Views: 14447

Re: underused settings in world building

No, we have a lot more school settings. School has the great advantage that everybody has to be there, whether they want to be or not, which automatically creates a narrative. University, people are only there because they want to be, and they have much more power over their own lives, which is muc...
by Curlyjimsam
06 Sep 2018 11:39
Forum: Beginners' Corner
Topic: Dealing with Conlanger's Block
Replies: 24
Views: 15259

Re: Dealing with Conlanger's Block

Seen this thread a hundred times; finally thought of something to say! Most of my conlanging arises from conworlding. I'm working on some aspect of the culture, and I need a word, or a phrase, and it all takes off from there ... So maybe laying languages aside and focusing on other aspects of the wo...
by Curlyjimsam
04 Aug 2018 12:33
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: Are AIs alive? Do they have souls?
Replies: 21
Views: 20733

Re: Are AIs alive? Do they have souls?

Very interesting thread! The classical Ninibian conception of a "soul" was the substance sirenu , variously translated "life", "breath", "spirit" etc. Sirenu was an elemental fluid that it was believed to be present in living things (i.e. humans and animals, p...