blog/reconlangmo 1: Name, Context, History (#140)

* blog/reconlangmo 1: Name, Context, History

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+---
+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.