Search found 528 matches

by WeepingElf
25 Jan 2024 14:06
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Replies: 1111
Views: 283005

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

Thank you. So I was mistaken in assuming that they are the same thing.
by WeepingElf
24 Jan 2024 17:42
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: (L&N) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Replies: 1111
Views: 283005

Re: Difference between Abugida and Alpha-Syllabary

regenbogen9 wrote: 24 Jan 2024 16:49 What's the difference between an Abugida and an Alpha-Syllabary?
I think it depends on whom you ask ;) It seems to me as if both mean more or less the same thing; at least, I consider them synonyms.
by WeepingElf
24 Jan 2024 17:40
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: What did you accomplish today?
Replies: 735
Views: 207540

Re: What did you accomplish today?

by WeepingElf
23 Jan 2024 22:25
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: Fredauon Fun Facts
Replies: 99
Views: 5315

Re: Fredauon Fun Facts

Do they use those telepathic parrots as biological mobile telephones?
by WeepingElf
23 Jan 2024 16:41
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: What are your favorites writing systems in the world?
Replies: 12
Views: 855

Re: What are your favorites writing systems in the world?

Arayaz wrote: 22 Jan 2024 21:55
regenbogen9 wrote: 22 Jan 2024 21:41 What do you mean by featurility?
The fact that it's a featural system. (i.e. that its glyphs express specific phonological features, rather than sounds)
Precisely.
by WeepingElf
22 Jan 2024 21:06
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: Writing systems
Replies: 6
Views: 495

Re: Writing systems

And what is a different script? I think defining that would knock India's number down a drop, or increase Europe's. Indeed, the various abugidas of India and Southeast Asia are all just surface variations of a single original abugida, Brahmi. The difference between India and Western Europe is one i...
by WeepingElf
22 Jan 2024 19:42
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: What are your favorites writing systems in the world?
Replies: 12
Views: 855

Re: What are your favorites writing systems in the world?

Hard to say. Tibetan looks gorgeous. Mkhedruli (Georgian) is also beautiful, as are Egyptian hieroglyphs. Hangul (Korean) has an extra coolness factor from its featurality.
by WeepingElf
19 Jan 2024 17:08
Forum: Linguistics & Natlangs
Topic: Serious question about writing systems
Replies: 3
Views: 329

Re: Serious question about writing systems

Logographies don't have a single symbol for every existing thing; they have symbols for roots. Compounds are written with as many logograms as the word has members, and there are ways, usually by syllabic signs, to write affixes, particles and the like.
by WeepingElf
08 Jan 2024 17:01
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: "Hwenti" - Tolkien's lost Elven language
Replies: 5
Views: 639

Re: "Hwenti" - Tolkien's lost Elven language

Well, Proto-Quendian did not have the same phonology as PIE - it lacked voiced aspirated stops, and instead had voiceless aspirated ones, which, however, were still reconstructed for PIE in Tolkien's time (only later, Indo-Europeanists managed to explain them away by means of laryngeals). This diffe...
by WeepingElf
07 Jan 2024 22:49
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: "Hwenti" - Tolkien's lost Elven language
Replies: 5
Views: 639

Re: "Hwenti" - Tolkien's lost Elven language

Wasn't there some discussion on this in some other thread in the (recent) past? Also, is this thread supposed to include a discussion on the language or will you be trying to construct a possible Hwenti? I don't know about an earlier discussion, and I currently have no plans to construct a Hwenti l...
by WeepingElf
07 Jan 2024 19:00
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: "Hwenti" - Tolkien's lost Elven language
Replies: 5
Views: 639

"Hwenti" - Tolkien's lost Elven language

J. R. R. Tolkien, as is well known, was not only a Germanic philologist but also a lover of the ancient Germanic languages. So why, then, did he not create an Quendian language with a Germanic-like phonology, with a consonant shift paralleling "Grimm's Law" and all that? The answer is that...
by WeepingElf
07 Jan 2024 16:29
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: The Sixth Conversation Thread
Replies: 762
Views: 194158

Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

Next update: The ZBB is running nicely; apparently, the problem has been fixed. Hurray!
by WeepingElf
06 Jan 2024 18:09
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: Yay or Nay?
Replies: 215
Views: 47948

Re: Yay or Nay?

I'd guess that a homonymy of 'find' and 'lose' would be unstable. In English, the meaning 'to adhere' of cleave is definitely on its way out. The homonymy of 'outer space' and 'night', in contrast, seems to make sense to me and may be stable. Night is, after all, the time of day when one can look ou...
by WeepingElf
05 Jan 2024 22:34
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: The Sixth Conversation Thread
Replies: 762
Views: 194158

Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

I get nothing but errors, can't even log in, so it seems that there is just rubble behind the facade. But perhaps I am too impatient. Mark is tech-savvy and determined enough to work on a solution. Update: It churns out errors 500 or 404 often, but reloading the page usually gives the desired resul...
by WeepingElf
04 Jan 2024 12:42
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: The Sixth Conversation Thread
Replies: 762
Views: 194158

Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

I get nothing but errors, can't even log in, so it seems that there is just rubble behind the facade. But perhaps I am too impatient. Mark is tech-savvy and determined enough to work on a solution.
by WeepingElf
03 Jan 2024 22:20
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: The Sixth Conversation Thread
Replies: 762
Views: 194158

Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

It apparently was of no use - the ZBB has fallen, perhaps forever.
by WeepingElf
03 Jan 2024 22:19
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: River Skasti (new grammar)
Replies: 54
Views: 11359

Re: Skasti

Nice, a featural alphabet pieced together from available characters! That's quite charming.
by WeepingElf
01 Jan 2024 15:40
Forum: Everything Else
Topic: The Sixth Conversation Thread
Replies: 762
Views: 194158

Re: The Sixth Conversation Thread

So today's the day I find the ZBB no longer lets you view posts without being a member. At first I thought the ZBB forums and posts had gone away entirely, but then I tried to log in and it worked, and everything was in place. Apparently, this is a measure against excessive bot traffic that had bro...
by WeepingElf
21 Dec 2023 16:26
Forum: Conworlds & Concultures
Topic: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)
Replies: 223
Views: 24114

Re: The Lonely Galaxy Megathread (comments encouraged)

No, your drawing skills aren't really that bad. Sure, there are better drawings around, but yours are OK for me.
by WeepingElf
20 Dec 2023 17:47
Forum: Conlangs
Topic: (Conlangs) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here
Replies: 1679
Views: 348005

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

Yes, and it seems as if most ergative languages are SOV.