Watu: New Auxlang after 11 days of work

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eldin raigmore
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Re: Watu: New Auxlang after 11 days of work

Post by eldin raigmore »

qwed117 wrote:.... although they might be making the 11 ky prequel first.
Yeah, I'm working on that one; making progress about as fast as you'd expect. Already, meeting the first deadline is in doubt.
cromulant
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Re: Watu: New Auxlang after 11 days of work

Post by cromulant »

holbuzvala wrote: I hope you see how this is different from Toki Pona.
I was referring only to the phonology.
Iyionaku wrote:Well, the language was meant to be an auxlang, i.e. easy. You cannot vary too much in terms of phonology from one language that is meant to be easy to another language that is meant to be easy. Getting rid of /e o/ is propably very clever because many language worldwide don't distinguish [e] and or [o] and , respectively.


This is an assumption I often see that I have to question: that a language with a "simple" phonology with very few contrasts and a CV structure, is inherently "easier." I'm a speaker of a language with a large vowel inventory and lots of consonant clusters. It's what I'm used to. I look at samples of Watu, Toki Pona and other such languages, and I see a very small few sounds repeated over and over again, and it looks like it a lot of tongue twisters, and honestly, it looks like it would be easier (for me) to pronounce if the phonology were a bit more complex. Not saying I couldn't manage it (and I haven't tried to master it), I just think I would trip on the simplicity and the inevitable 'pisiti misu simipi pisimi simu etc.'-type sequences. Not sure it really is easier. If it is, I'd wonder why most languages go so far beyond that bare bones style.
holbuzvala
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Re: Watu: New Auxlang after 11 days of work

Post by holbuzvala »

I was referring only to the phonology.
Ah, right. My answer may have seemed overlong then :P
This is an assumption I often see that I have to question: that a language with a "simple" phonology with very few contrasts and a CV structure, is inherently "easier." I'm a speaker of a language with a large vowel inventory and lots of consonant clusters. It's what I'm used to. I look at samples of Watu, Toki Pona and other such languages, and I see a very small few sounds repeated over and over again, and it looks like it a lot of tongue twisters, and honestly, it looks like it would be easier (for me) to pronounce if the phonology were a bit more complex. Not saying I couldn't manage it (and I haven't tried to master it), I just think I would trip on the simplicity and the inevitable 'pisiti misu simipi pisimi simu etc.'-type sequences. Not sure it really is easier. If it is, I'd wonder why most languages go so far beyond that bare bones style.
This is a super interesting point. I think the lack of very many contrasts is made to ensure essentially everyone can speak/pronounce the phonology of the language with no issues. But, it does raise the point about tongue-twisty segments. Maybe I'll go over it and add a few voice-voiceless contrasts like s-z, p-b, k-g, and when I write the 'Easy To Learn!' pamphlet, I will write in how such sounds are realised in languages, say, that only have an aspiration difference (so, by making the voiceless ones correspond to the aspirated consonants, and vice versa). Or something like that. I'll give it some thought. Thanks for raising the point.

P.S. What is the language with many vowels and consonant clusters you speak? English?
cromulant
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Re: Watu: New Auxlang after 11 days of work

Post by cromulant »

holbuzvala wrote:P.S. What is the language with many vowels and consonant clusters you speak? English?
That's the one!
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