Warning: Language Under Construction

    As a result of summer research, I officially decided to invent a language. It'll help me in my world-building for the Wynna and Thibault storires as well and give me a better grip on linguistics. I'm excited and daunted at the same time. I'll be working on this on my own time until I actually enroll in my senior English capstone, where I'll do it for a grade and not just for pleasure. So here is the first post in a series of many that will mark my progress. Hopefully you'll be amused or informed and not utterly disgusted. Let me know if you have any tips.

     Constructed Language (Conlang) Post #1: The Workstation

Let me introduce my tools from left to right.

TOP ROW

J.R.R. Tolkien: a Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter: for inspiration. Tolkien was a genius linguist.

The Study of Language by George Yule: for reference, one of my old textbooks.

iPod: to look up the longest consonant cluster in Russian

Cat stickies: to make notes in a borrowed book

V8 juice: to give health to my bones while I sit in one place for long periods of time

IPA charts: to help me decide what sounds are the yummiest in the world so I can claim them

Cup: to keep hydrated

BOTTOM ROW

Sketchbook: to play with the shape of words

Languages of the World by Asya Perelstvaig: to keep my language from becoming English in disguise

     After reading through The Language Construction Kit by Mark Rosenfelder and In the Land of Invented Languages by Arika Okrent this summer, conlanging was starting to look overwhelming. But my linguistics professor alleviated my fears by telling me that 1) I don't have to tackle it all at once, but bit by little bit and 2) I can always change anything I end up not liking or that doesn't work.

     So, here I go. My first assignment is to develop a sound system, syllable rules, and produce a list of 20 nouns and 20 verbs.

This is who is making scary shadows at the top of the other picture.

My Seal of Life: Poetry

     Everyday life can be surprisingly dangerous, but I have a defender. True story.

Click here for full-size image.

~Erika

Angel on the Square: Book Review

     Hello! During my nearly 2 month hiatus, summer came with heat, humidity, and striking sunsets.

Actually, the weather has been extraordinarily good for the most part. Other than one or two weeks in June, we have had tolerably warm days and pleasantly chilly nights.

    Looking back to my last post, I really enjoyed memo-ing in May. It was just soothing to sit quietly outside and reflect on the most significant bits of my day. I hope you tried it.

    Since it's summer--let's talk about reading! My latest read was Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan. Took me a week to finish, because I always feel guilty sitting down with a book instead of whatever else I think I have to do, but it was worth the time!

Summary:  Katya is the daughter of the lady-in-waiting to the Empress of Russia, during the reign of Tsar Nikolai II. The story follows her life from naive childhood in 1913 to trial-changed adulthood in 1918. Used to the lavish life of an aristocratic family, she is forced to come to terms with the harsh existence of the peasants as Russia crumbles.

Why I liked it: This is a much examined period in history, looked at in this book from a child's perspective. The smattering of Russian throughout struck my linguist heart. The imagery in the story brings it full circle. Ms. Whelan's words are artistry, and although she uses conspicuous metaphors and old idioms, somehow the language is not contrived; it is new and alive. I marked up my garage sale copy (in pencil!). Now I can go back to turns of phrase I liked and re-enjoy, share, and hopefully reproduce them. 

A couple favorites:

"The winter would not stop. In the Summer Garden the statues were hidden under a blanket of white" (p186, HarperCollins edition).

"Beyond that, time was an endless ocean I could not see across" (p272).


    If you're interested in the inspiration behind the book, I found a good author interview: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1342&context=lajm