Today we talk about nonconfigurationality, that is what languages do with word order when it’s not needed to show semantic roles.  William regales us with tales of Navajo animacy-based word order, Nahuatl shifting its numerals around, and Ancient Greek’s confounding tendency to separate adjectives from their noun phrases.  Also, we talk about Ayeri, a wonderfully... Read more »

We talk about how to organize your conlang, from organizing your notes to writing the grammar and lexicon, and what software is out there to help you.  Also, some stupid example sentences, and a little old language called Alurhsa. Pre-show intro: Ancaron language by ZBB’s Lyhoko Leaci. Resources and Links: LaTeX The Field Linguist’s Toolbox The... Read more »

Listen to David Peterson talk to Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont on Sword and Laser #68: Ad-libbing in Dothraki We’re all about formality today, from the intricate politeness system of Korean to some crazy Nahuatl stuff to the subtle syntax of the English polite request.  We talk on just what kind of things languages do... Read more »

We talk about kinship terminology: what kinds of kinship schemes exist in reality, how they are related to family structure and marriage customs, and where you can find resources to give you ideas about these concepts.  We also talk a little about Tepa (which I mispronounce a couple of times in the episode, it should... Read more »

George says: check out the LCS Podcast interview of Sheri Wells-Jensen.  Meanwhile, on this side of the conlanging podosphere (literally, the other side, there are only two podcasts), we talk a little about how you can fill out that lexicon with words.  And after that we talk about a language whose creator apparantly decided not... Read more »

We talk at length about linguistic typology and all the weird and wonderful tendencies that human languages seem to have.  We also talk a little on Láadan, the language for women that our own token woman isn’t too fond of (philosophy-wise, anyway). Resources: The Universals Archive The World Atlas of Language Structure Online (WALS) Featured Conlang:... Read more »

We’re back to talk about scripts: what kind of script to use, how con-history fits into it, tips for developing a realistic script, etc.  Then we talk about a language that, while not having a unique writing system per se, has incorporated existing systems in an interesting way. Featured Conlang: Rangyayo (see here, here and... Read more »

It’s just George and Bianca this week, as Will ended up dealing with the spontaneous combustion of a server.  We do our best to stumble through some some recommendations for new conlangers and later take a look at an interesting little Germanic conlang. Links The Language Construction Kit The Zompist Bulletin Board The Conlanger Bulletin... Read more »

George finally gets Bianca’s last name right (it’s [mæŋgəm]) and we talk a little about people mispronouncing our names.  Then we get into what makes a language good or bad, and don’t come to much of a good conclusion other than the old “eye of the beholder.”  Then after Bianca leaves Will and George are... Read more »

We have William Annis of www.learnnavi.org on to talk about promoting conlangs, and also talk a little bit about Na’vi. Learn Na’vi