There are 2 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1.1. Re: Word Limit
From: Adam Walker
2. Origins of English
From: nichole andrews
Messages
________________________________________________________________________
1.1. Re: Word Limit
Posted by: "Adam Walker" [email protected]
Date: Thu Jan 17, 2013 4:06 pm ((PST))
On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 5:49 PM, Matthew Martin <[email protected]
> wrote:
> >Is there a limit on how many words can be in a conlang?
>
> I'll approach this from the the angle of fandom and designing a productive
> derivational morphology.
>
> At 100 words, you have enough to communicate a lot more than you might
> expect and casual fans might invest the time to learn 100 words just for
> the heck of it.
> At 3,000 to 7,000 you are about the the range of a 2nd language learner
> who finally can read the paper and light fiction-- fans would have to be as
> motivated to learn that many words as they are motivated to learn a foreign
> language. And that generally has to be pretty darn motivated.
> At 50,000 to 75,000 words you are approaching the vocab of highly educated
> scholars. No one is going to learn this many words and fewer would find it
> entertaining to read through a dictionary that big.
>
> I would go along with that.
<major snip>
In Klingon people use phasers and it feels like it should only mean
phasers--- Marc Okrand has a word for potato gun-I'm sure of it, he just
hasn't announced it. So it will feel odd to use these super specific words
as general category words.
Having met Okrand, I wouldn't doubt that at all. He seems the sort who
might keep a potato gun handy for when things get dull.
Adam
Messages in this topic (36)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Origins of English
Posted by: "nichole andrews" [email protected]
Date: Thu Jan 17, 2013 5:32 pm ((PST))
Hi, I added more books to be listened too, and thought they
may be helful to conlangs. 1
Word origins ... and how we know them etymology for everyone
<https://teacherally.learningally.org/BookDetails.aspx?BookID=HR510>
by Liberman Anatoly
2
The Origins and development of the English Language by Thomas Piles
3
Spellbound
<https://teacherally.learningally.org/BookDetails.aspx?BookID=JB031>
by James Essinger
Emerging poet
Pen name Mellissa Green
Budding novelist
Blog
www.theworldofyemora.wordpress.com
<http://www.theworldofyemora.wordpress.com/>
tweet me
@GreenNove
list
Messages in this topic (1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/conlang/
<*> Your email settings:
Digest Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/conlang/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
