dLCC 2021

Quantification for Conlangers

The behavior of quantifiers is rarely discussed in presentations of conlangs–which is unsurprising, as it is rarely discussed in natlang grammars, as well. This lack of attention can give the impression that quantification just works the same way everywhere—but this could not be further from the truth! In this presentation, I will cover the differing ways that quantification can be encoded, how different languages handle quantifier ambiguity, and surprisingly places where quantification shows up with examples from natlangs and my own conlangs.

Lost English: Generating Words that Weren’t Quite

Using a database of Proto Indo-European roots and affixes, and a summary of the sound changes that have taken place between PIE and modern English, I present an open source program to generate English words that do not exist, but might have. Both pronunciation and spelling suggestions are offered, reflecting English’s idiosyncratic orthography. The words often seem whimsical or odd, but in fact are no stranger than many actual English words. The program is offered as a tool for creators of alternate history or lost words and names.

Developing a Non-Human Conlang:

The Example of C’ą̂ą́r Yâm

Alex presents on their process in developing their non-human conlang C’ą̂ą́r Yâm, spoken by a fictional bird species, and gives advice on how to make a believable non-human conlang.

Questioning Clefts: The Story (and Struggle) of Revising Content Questions in Skerre

Cleft sentences might have a plausible cross-linguistic characterization as complex sentences with, minimally, a copula-like predication (even without an actual copular verb or particle) and either a nominalized or adnominal clause. These sentences are usually truth-conditionally equivalent to simple sentences with nearly the same linguistic material. In some languages, cleft sentences are a common way within which content questions — questions about certain portions of sentences (aka wh-questions) — are expressed. A few years ago I decided that my conlang Skerre would join the ranks of languages that express content questions via cleft sentences. In the talk, I plan to first motivate why I thought it was a good idea to use clefts for content questions in Skerre — mostly based on typological correlations, but with a brief note about the relationship between information structure and syntax. Then, I will discuss how I sought to determine precisely how such clauses should be formed in Skerre. This has been more of a struggle than expected, because the cross-linguistic work I usually use to inform my conlanging decisions either has yet to be done or is just coming out. So the talk will also share how I have tried to overcome this challenge to my usual conlanging mode of operating.

Creating New Verbs in Okuna:

Motion, Means, and Manner

In this presentation I discuss Leonard Talmy’s (1985) formative typological work on lexicalization patterns. This work focuses on uncovering cross-linguistic differences in how motion events are encoded, with respect to the realization of basic cognitive categories such as Figure, Ground, Path, and Manner. Using Talmy’s research as a framework for my discussion, I present some strategies for forming verbs in my conlang Okuna, focusing on a class of derivational prefixes which encode (a) the manner in which an event is carried out, (b) the degree to which an event is carried out, or (c) the type of object being manipulated to carry out the event. (These prefixes have analogs in natlangs, including manner and classifier affixes in some languages of North America.) In addition to illustrating how these verb-deriving prefixes work, I also discuss how they evolved (both intra- and extra-fictionally) from noun incorporation and converb constructions. The goal of this talk is to provide a case study in how language creators can use the grammatical resources of their conlang to expand the vocabulary naturalistically and organically, in ways that depart from the familiar derivation patterns of English.

Reference
Talmy, Leonard. 1985. “Lexicalization patterns: Semantic structure in lexical forms”. In Language Typology and Syntactic Description, ed. T. Shopen, pp. 36-149. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The Exponence of Grammatical Number in Kamya

Here I discuss the ways in which information regarding grammatical number is conveyed in Kamya:

Nouns display a morphological distinction between general and plural number. Unmarked general nouns are able to express either a semantic singular or plural (kudi ‘book(s)’) and a semantic plural may optionally be marked by suffixation (kudida ‘books’). However, this overt marking is considered ungrammatical when a quantifier or cardinal numeral is present (gara kudi ‘a lot of books’, iz kudi ‘three books’), though a small number of pluralia tantum are invariably found with overt plural marking (amda ‘people’).

Verbs obligatorily agree for semantic not morphological number with subjects, with singular being unmarked and plural again indicated by suffixation (kavuk/kavukar ‘dwell (sg./pl.)’—certain verbs also exhibit stem
mutation/suppletion).

In general, morphological plural marking on nouns is somewhat uncommon not only for subjects but also for non-subjects and is typically used to provide disambiguation or focus. For non-subjects, semantic number may be recoverable even when not morphologically marked on the noun due to the presence of the indefinite article (şi kudi ‘a book’), which strongly implies a singular reading with a bare noun. Though this may also be found with count nouns as a partitive, albeit ordinarily alongside overt plural marking (şi kudi(da) ‘some books’). With the definite article, however, semantic number is often ambiguous (na kudi ‘the book(s)’) but may be inferable from context or real-world knowledge. For example, with naturally plural body parts, the definite article often implies plurality (na kaw ‘the hand(s)’).

Panel: Benefits of Natlang Study Groups for Conlangers

Early in 2020, Kevin Walker started a weekly discussion group to help motivate him to study Inuktitut. Since then, the group has grown to five regular members (all conlangers), and covered Inuktitut, Tlingit, Yale, Coptic, and Sandawe. This panel will discuss how this group has benefited its members both in our conlanging pursuits and more broadly in terms of career growth, mental health, etc., and how similar activities might be beneficial to others.

Kevin Walker‘s bio will be posted soon.

Aidan Aannestad is one more name on the long list of people who discovered linguistics through Tolkien, and he’s been conlanging ever since that seventh grade discovery. He’s learned a lot about linguistics since then, though, and now is about to finish a master’s degree in it. He holds himself (and sometimes others) to a very high standard of realism in his work, and he’s always striving to get a more complete perspective on the enormous variety found in the world’s natlangs – with a special interest in tone and information structure. He also speaks Japanese, and will happily discuss its history and mechanics for hours with anyone interested. He’s been on-and-off a member of a number of conlanging communities, and these days is most likely to be found in the r/conlangs subreddit as u/sjiveru.

Wrik Chatterjee‘s bio will be posted soon.

MAGN(idea) = big: collocations for lexicon building

After a brief overview of lexical collocations (big idea, deep thoughts, sheer audacity, attract attention, piece of advice, etc.), I will introduce a formal way of describing them, Lexical Functions.[1] The majority of the talk will be a tour of a few major LFs, giving both natural language and my own conlang examples. In particular, MAGN (intensity, “strong tea”), BON (common praise, “fruitful analysis”), VER (genuine, “legitimate demand”), along with modifiers of them, will be a major focus.

With additional time, the structural LFs can be touched on, and the possibilities of some functions to not just describe a lexicon, but to generate interesting lexical possibilities, can also be explored.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical_function

Aramteskan, and the Language of Scent in Real and Constructed Languages

Recent work on language and olfaction has demonstrated that there are languages that have far richer scent-based lexicons than languages like English (Majid & Burenhult 2014, Poulton 2020). Some languages encode scent in grammar, such as the scent classifier in Cha’palaa (Floyd, San Roque & Majid, 2018). However, there are many potential scent-based linguistic features that have not been attested. For example, there is no documented evidential in any known language exclusively used for olfactory evidence (Aikhenvald 2004).

In this presentation we discuss the Aramteskan language, featured in the fantasy novels The Darkest Bloom (Freestone 2019) and Crown of Smoke (Freestone 2020). These novels depict a fictional society where smell is culturally the most important sense. This is an a priori constructed natlang, however it diverges from the established natural language typology specifically in relation to the lexicalisation and grammaticalisation of scent. In this regard the constructed Aramteskan language exhibits ‘weak naturalism’ (Peterson 2020; 261) in the pursuit of a creative approach to enriching worldbuilding (Sanders and Schreyer 2020; Coon 2020). We outline three strategies used to create a scent-focused language, including a rich verb lexicon, nominal classification, and olfactory evidentiality. None of these are attested in the existing typology of human languages. This creative approach to the application of typology helps illustrate what is possible, but not existent, in natural languages. We demonstrate how this constructed language gave depth to the fictional world of this series, and helped to motivate key plot points.

References
Aikhenvald, A.Y. (2004). Evidentiality. Oxford University Press.
Coon, J. (2020). In Punske, J., Sanders, N., & Fountain, A. V. (Eds.). Language Invention in Linguistics Pedagogy. 32-48. Oxford University Press.
Floyd, S., Roque, L. S., & Majid, A. (2018). Smell is coded in grammar and frequent in discourse: Cha’palaa olfactory language in cross-linguistic perspective. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 28(2), 175-196.
Freestone, P.M. (2019). Book 1 . Scholastic.
Freestone, P.M. (2020). Book 2 . Scholastic.
Majid, A., & Burenhult, N. (2014). Odors are expressible in language, as long as you speak the right language. Cognition, 130(2), 266-270.
Peterson, D. (2020). In Punske, J., Sanders, N., & Fountain, A. V. (Eds.). Language Invention in Linguistics Pedagogy. 251-281. Oxford University Press.
Poulton, T. 2020. The smells we know and love: variation in codability and description strategy. Language and Cognition, 12(3): 1-25.
Sanders, N. & Schreyer, C. (2020). In Punske, J., Sanders, N., & Fountain, A. V. (Eds.). Language Invention in Linguistics Pedagogy. 169-185. Oxford University Press.

PM Freestone writes young adult fiction. Her debut duology began in 2019 with Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom and concluded in 2020 with Shadowscent: Crown of Smoke. She is now working on a new series.

Building Collective Imagination in the Klingon Language Community

A presentation about the boom in literary creation by the Klingon-speaking community which has occurred since the beginning of the pandemic.

Ayiwa: A (Failed?) Experiment in Controlled Pidginization

During the years 2001 and 2002, the venerable David J. Peterson conducted experiments regarding the way that morphology and syntax emerges in pidgins. To do this, he took a handful of volunteering college students and gave them a created lexicon and prompted them to communicate using this list. The results in both instances were interesting in their own right and can be read about on his webpage dedalvs.com, and inspired me to attempt a variant of the experiment for myself to see if I could produce similarly interesting results. Although it is by no means helpful in a scientific sense, the language that resulted is still worth analyzing both for enjoyment and as further evidence that if properly conducted a similar experiment could possibly create helpful results.

The Conlang Database Project

This talk will introduce the Conlang Database Project, using slides. Topics will include:

• Origins and inspirations of the project
• Precise purpose
• Who will benefit, and how
• Similar resources and what makes this different
• How exactly it will work
• Inclusion/exclusion criteria
• Practical, ethical and legal issues
• Method of organisation and planning
• Database fields, options and settings
• How conlangs have been, and will be, added
• Sources for collecting conlangs
• Planned database search capacity
• Progress by the time of the conference
• Likely future and legacy

Brave New Words: Literary Glossopoesis as a Narrative Framework in Science Fiction Literature

In this presentation, I propose to work on the premise that the creation of languages to feature in science fiction literary works is frequently used as a narrative framework, which means they are utilised as an ancillary device to tell a story, rather than occasional flourishment. As it happens, that implies that literary fictional languages, even in the cases with only a few invented words, have an elaborative function that conveys meaning as an effective alternative to simple description or other narrative tools, such as exposition. To demonstrate how wide-ranging the use of literary glossopoesis has been, I propound a historiographical study that traces the incidence of fictional languages in literature back to the 1500s until contemporaneity. In support of my thesis, I intend to present a three-case study: (1) Ursula K Le Guin’s The Dispossessed (1974); (2) George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949); (3) Suzette Haden Elgin’s Native Tongue (1986). Although mostly not fully-fledged languages, the glossopoesis in the three texts play the role of a secondary narrative framework either in addition to the regular traditional prose or even in contradiction thereof. The painstaking analysis of those instances of literary glossopoesis reveal that an in-depth
appreciation of the texts can only be achieved if concatenated with attention paid to the languages. As a result, the research offers a change of paradigm in the criticism and approach of sciencefictional
texts that feature fictional languages.

References
Barthes, Roland. S/Z. Rio de Janeiro: Edições 70, 1999.
Cheyne, Ria. “Created Languages in Science Fiction.” Science Fiction Studies 35.5 (2008): 386-403.
Chiang, Ted. “Story of Your Life.” Stories of Your Life and Others. 1998. New York: Vintage Books, 2002. Print.
Conley, Tim, and Stephen Cain. Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006.
Delany, Samuel R. Silent Interviews. On Language, Race, Sex, Science Fiction and Some Comics. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1994. Print.
Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory – An Introduction. Minneapolis: The University of Minneapolis Press, 2003.
Elgin, Suzette Haden. Native Tongue. 1984. New York: Feminist Press, 2000. Print.
Le Guin, U. K. Foreword. In Encyclopaedia of Fictional and Invented Languages. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006.
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Dispossessed. New York: Harper Voyager, 1974.
Meyers, Walter Earl. Aliens and Linguists: Language Study and Science Fiction. South Atlantic Modern Language Association Award Study. Atlanta: University of Georgia Press, 1980.
Noletto, I. A. C., and S. A. T. Lopes. “Heptapod B and the Paradox of Foreknowledge: Confronting Literature and Its Filmic Adaptation.” Arcadia 54.1 (2019): 86–100.
Noletto, I. A. C., and S. A. T. Lopes. “Language and Control – Glossopoesis in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Elgin’s Native Tongue.” Darandina 11.1 (2019): 1-16.
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. 1949. London: Penguin Books, 2000.
Stockwell, Peter. “Invented Language in Literature.” Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics. Ed. Brown, Keith. 2nd ed. Oxford: Elsevier, 2006. 3-10.
Tolkien, J. R. R. A Secret Vice. London: HarperCollins, 2016.
Wimsatt, W. K., and M. C. Beardsley. “A Falácia Intencional.” Teoria Literária Em Suas Fontes. Ed. Lima, Luiz Costa. Vol. 2. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Civilização Brasileira, 2002. 639-57.

Experimental Linguopoetics Arises: Phonaesthetics vs. Phonaesthemics

Could Tolkien have been wrong?

Linguopoetics, or a branch of linguistics dealing with creating languages (linguopoiesis), is a potentially rich field for experimental linguistic research. In our work, we have chosen and tested a hypothetical concept of phonaesthetics, originated outside of linguopoiesis, but introduced to it by John R. R. Tolkien, linguist and linguopoet himself. Phonaesthetics hypothesises that there is a universal causal relationship between the sound and meaning, i.e., the meaning of a word is determined by its sound, and vice versa. This represents so called strong formulation. Later, the weak formulation was introduced that it applies only to pairs of opposite / mutually extreme meanings. Another hypothesis to the relation between sound and meaning, the phonaesthemic hypothesis by John R. Firth, postulates ex-post mental association of a certain sound or group of sounds (a phonaestheme) with a certain meaning.

We have undertaken a study probing both these hypotheses by means of asking respondents to assign different meanings to one of the pair of phonetic sequences (and other way around) in different arrangements to test as many potential consequences of these hypotheses as possible. We have applied phonetic sequence & meaning pairs from natural languages, created languages and randomly generated and attributed sequences.

Our results suggest that although in the limited number of cases the respondents’ preference of a certain phonetic sequence to meaning is non-random (potentially a phonaesthemic phenomenon), in most cases, regardless of the origin, no causal relation between the two could be found, ruling thus the phonaesthetic hypothesis out.

The Art of Discovery

I approach conlanging a little differently than those whom I have met over the years. I want my languages—Lortho and Dhakhsh—to feel like archaeological finds on a distant world; discoveries that inspire and give a sense of awe to the reader as I make each new find. I want the reader to want to learn more. Even as I describe new words I’ve created, I present them as new discoveries that the public can realize with me. Moreover, these discoveries make it possible to leave an unexplained aspect of the language as it is without feeling pressured to accurately describe a grammatical nuance or why a word might have an odd definition. I apply this concept of discovery consistently in both Lortho and Dhakhsh and it has helped me create the world in which my languages are spoken and written. I wish to present how I use the Art of Discovery to maintain my passion for the languages and, in turn, pass on that passion to the readers—hopefully yearning for more.

Techniques for Script Development

An orthography triumphs when it is visually appealing and best represents the people and culture of the language. I have enjoyed designing scripts for myself and for others and I would like to show you what I’ve learned by bringing you through my entire development process. We will study iconic writing systems both constructed and natural, and discuss selecting & constraining shape sets, utilising a script sketch, tips for shape generation, character/sound assignment, and the magic of evolving your work. We will answer questions like, “How do I design a script that looks distinct and cohesive?” and, “Why doesn’t my final sample excite me as much as the individual characters did?” and,  “How do I make this writing system look more alive?”

Perhaps you have a specific vision of the script you want to produce, or maybe only a vague sense of the feeling you want it to evoke. The principles I am presenting will help you navigate from ideas to fully fledged scripts that can function as the best version of themselves.

Bad Writing

In this talk, I’ll discuss the horrific but beautiful orthography of my conlang Zevy, which has a rather weird correspondance (or rather, lack of correspondance) between letters and sounds, and contextualize it in the larger question of how to build a realistically “bad” writing system, the drawbacks and advantages of shallow versus deep orthographies in real life and in conlanging, and compare the history of the development of the Zevy orthography to that of English and French, both in-world (oh the historical drama) and as a conlanger, looking at how my own journey of being an English speaker learning French impacted the development of Zevy’s orthographical quirks.

The Linguistics of Zelda

Examining the Possible Conlang Clues and Linguistic History of the Various Hyrulian Civilizations

While the Legend of Zelda series of video games does not as yet seem to have a fully-developed conlang, there are several examples of possible naming languages & even the beginnings of a few conlang sketches. Some Zelda fans have developed these sketches & alphabets further into various fan works. Some have even endeavored to further develop some of these languages into full conlangs (such as “Hyrulian” and “Gerudo”). But to my knowledge, no one has yet attempted to compile and analyze every bit of linguistic data from all civilizations represented in the Zelda games. I have been looking at the official material found in the games to see what we can learn about the various civilizations as they developed over the centuries represented in the official in-universe timeline. The latest game in the series, Breath of the Wild, is particularly noteworthy for its use of words & names from previous games, as well as its portrayal of the language spoken by the desert-dwelling Gerudo tribe.

Though the creators & publishers of Zelda games don’t tend to focus on the overarching timeline or narrative between different entries, I think the analytical approach I take to the hints of a developing linguistic history found in the series would not only be of interest to those familiar with this popular video game series, but it can also serve as an example of how conlangers can further develop any fictional world or culture using only a handful of helpful clues.

Reoxe | Designed as an International Auxiliary Language

One of my favorite pastimes is to learn new languages, especially from media like songs, movies, and shows. I grew up in a household in which my parents were consistently speaking a mixture of English, Hindi, and Telugu with a ton of code-switching. Because of this, I found that I would occasionally insist with all my might that a Telugu word existed in Hindi. Even with English, I remember initially saying “full-stop” instead of a period due to the fact my family lived in the UK for a bit. I do believe that this however was certainly a blessing in disguise; being exposed to a lot of different languages from an early age helped me soak in new languages soon after.

In elementary school, I went to a Hindi school to formally learn to read and write Hindi. My mom would tease me that I would use lots of non-colloquial words that would be archaic and incoherent all the time. It soon became apparent that to learn a language, I would have to hone in on its everyday nuances. Having adopted this newfound perspective on language acquisition, I set out to learn languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Hindi. Soon, I developed an interest in examining the individuality and disposition of each and every language. Being able to understand and become a part of fluid conversations also incentivized me.

As a result, I began to tackle languages like Japanese with a rational mindset. I started to learn Japanese in seventh grade; I pieced together a combination of online resources such as JapanesePod101 and Mango Languages, in addition to reciting song lyrics by heart. I approached Korean the next summer in a similar manner. I had found out learning Mandarin Chinese through my school aided a lot with writing and vocabulary in these two languages and in real life as well. When I went to Kansas City, MO 2019 for Destination Imagination, I was able to utilize my Mandarin knowledge to communicate with international competitors directly from China. I am proud of how far I’ve come and aspire to keep improving my skills to connect with even more people.

It was not long before I soon became immersed in linguistics, IPA, and semantics thanks to my love for languages. With this newfound technical view on language as well as a practical, real-world view on language acquisition, I set out to create a conlang named Reoxe (starting in 6th grade). I contacted some experts in the field to get feedback on my designs for Reoxe to be an international auxiliary language. Reoxe is primed to be easy-to-learn, with its own vocabulary and grammar. My intention is that anyone should be able to learn the language from just reading my book, Reoxe: Constructed International Auxiliary Language, and hopefully a bit of practice.

Where Does Writing Come From?

Where does writing emerge from? In Tolkein’s mythos, writing is invented by Rumil of Valinor before being improved by Feanor. While this deliberate act of careful and intentional creation is very much in harmony with Tolkein’s mythic intent, did the first writing systems really emerge in similar acts of creation? Ongoing research into the earliest writing in societies such as Ancient Egypt, Sumeria, and Early China suggests that the process is more complex than that, with writing being an unintended product of the need to organize and record. In particular, my own research examines the inter-relations between material, institutional organization, and language that give rise to writing, particularly in the Early Chinese context. This paper seeks to take insights into the process by which writing systems develop and examine them in the context of conlanging, conscripting and conworlding, as well as considering the potential of conlanging, conscripting, and conworlding as part of the investigative and academic process. This presentation will present this model alongside a discussion of the ways that several real world ancient scripts work through the example of a hypothetical society, the Tlowat, as they invent writing.

The Qapekbehtian Scripts

The Original Qapekbehtic script in the world of Tjer would go on to have many descendants as it spread and slowly diverged. From the curvy abugidas to the cryptic logographies, my goal with the Qapekbehtian scripts was to create a vast array of interesting mechanisms from one proto-system, mimicking the process we see in natural languages. In this talk I will explain how I achieved this and explain the constructed history of this script family.

Orthographies: Enriching Language Creation and World Building

Orthography creation and development can be rewarding in their own right, but this process can also enrich and add to worldbuilding, in the context of the historical conworld-internal development of a conlang or language family. Orthography creation in tandem with conlanging can add to the depth of both writing system and language.

Outside the bounds of the conlang itself, orthographies can also reflect an association with history, politics, and sociocultural events, which parallel the histories of orthographies in our own world. In this way, conscripts tell stories about a world and its peoples.

In this presentation, I illustrate these points using examples from conlangs and conscripts (both my own and others’), as well as examples of orthographies and orthography development processes from the real world.