diff --git a/blog/reconlangmo-1-name-ctx-history-2020-05-05.markdown b/blog/reconlangmo-1-name-ctx-history-2020-05-05.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1845ad6 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/reconlangmo-1-name-ctx-history-2020-05-05.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,103 @@ +--- +title: "ReConLangMo 1: Name, Context, History" +date: 2020-05-05 +series: reconlangmo +tags: + - conlang + - lewa +--- + +# ReConLangMo 1: Name, Context, History + +I've been curious about how language works for a very long time. This curiosity +has lead me down many fascinating rabbit holes, but for a long time I have +either been cribbing off of other people's work or studying natural languages +that don't have a cohesive plan or core to them. [Constructed +Languages][conlangs] (or conlangs as I will probably be calling them from here +on out) are a simpler model of this. You might be familiar with +[Klingon][tlhnganhol] from the Star Trek series, the [various forms of +Elvish][elvish] as described by J. R. R. Tolkien or [Dothraki][dothraki] from +Game of Thrones. This series will show an example of how one of those kinds of +languages are created. + +[conlangs]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructed_language +[tlhnganhol]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klingon_language +[elvish]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvish_languages +[dothraki]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dothraki_language + +Recently a challenge came up on [/r/conlangs][rconlangs] called +[ReConLangMo][reconlangmo] and I've decided to take a stab at this and flesh +this out into a [personal language][perslang]. + +[rconlangs]: https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/ +[reconlangmo]: https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/gbgvu0/reconlangmo_2020/ +[perslang]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artistic_language#Personal_languages + +This post will be the first in a series (with articles to be listed below) and +is following the prompt made [here][reconlangmo1prompt]. + +[reconlangmo1prompt]: https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/gd8z18/reconlangmo_1_name_context_and_history/ + +## L'ewa Overview + +The language I am going to create will be called L'ewa (⁄l.ʔɛ.wa⁄, also +romanized lewa for filesystems). This word is identical in English and in L'ewa. +It means "is a language". The name came to me in a shower a while ago and I'm +not entirely sure where it came from. + +This language is being designed as a personal language to help me keep a diary +(more on that later) and to act as a testbed for writing a computational +knowledge engine, much like IBM's Watson. I do not expect anyone else to use +this language. I may pull this language into fiction (if that ever gets off the +ground) or into other projects as it makes sense. + +Some of the high level things I want to try in this language are ways to make me +think differently. I'm following the weak form of the [Sapir-Whorf +hypothesis][sapirwhorf] by this logic. I want to see what would happen if I give +myself a tool that I can use to help myself think in different ways. Other +features I plan to include are: + +[sapirwhorf]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_relativity + +- A [seximal][seximal] number system +- A predicate-argument system similar to [Lojban][lojban] +- Nounlessness (only having verbs for content words) like [Salishan][salishan] + languages +- An [a-priori][apriori] (or made up) vocabulary +- Grammatical markers for the identity of the thinker of a sentence/phrase/word +- Make each grammatical feature and word logical, or working in one way only +- Typeable with standard QWERTY en-US keyboards +- A decorative script that I'll turn into a font + +[seximal]: https://www.seximal.net +[lojban]: https://lojban.pw/cll/uncll-1.2.6/xhtml_section_chunks/chapter-tour.html#section-bridi +[salishan]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salishan_languages +[apriori]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructed_language#A_priori_and_a_posteriori_languages + +## L'wea as A Diary Language + +When I was younger, I used to keep a diary/journal file on my computers off and +on. I was detailed about what I was feeling and what I was considering and going +through. This all ended abruptly after my parents were snooping through my +computer in middle school and discovered that I was questioning fundamental +aspects of myself like my gender. I have never really felt comfortable keeping a +diary file since then. I have made a few attempts at this (including by using a +dedicated diary machine, air-gapped TempleOS machines and the like), but they +all feel too vulnerable and open for anyone to read them. + +This is my logic for using a language that I create for myself. If people really +want to go through and take the time to learn the ins and outs of a tool I +created for myself to archive my personal thoughts, they probably deserve to be +able to read them. Otherwise, this would allow me to write my diary from pretty +much anywhere, even in plain sight out in public. People can't shoulder-surf and +read what they literally cannot understand. + +--- + +I plan to continue going through this series as the prompts come out and will +put my responses on my blog along with explanations, analysis and sample code +(where relevant). I will probably also reformat these posts (and relevant +dictionary files) to an eBook and later into a reference grammar book. + +Like I said though, this project is for myself. I do not expect this language to +change the world for anyone but me. Let's see where this rabbit hole goes.