More language posting. :)
The more I do this project the more I think about language. Recently it's been the sound of my language. Languages I've discovered have difference sounds to them. For example one language might use lots of 't' and 'k' or one might use a lot of vowels, Italian comes to mind. My language...well I'm trying to make it softer than English but it's really quite difficult. As a native English speaker I don't want my language to be a close of English with a few different words. The idea is that my language is spoken more slowly and carefully than we speak English. The word 'thoughtfully' comes to mind. To that end I've tried to create a softer language but all I keep coming up with are 'k' words.
It's quite amusing really and very fascinating to see what happens when I create a new word. Mostly it's created and a use is found for it later. Certain words sometimes jump out at me when I'm looking for something. Amiera was one such word where it's meaning felt like it was destined for it. It now means beautiful. However sometimes I just can't seem to find a word which suits the English equivalent. Two odd examples are 'mother' and 'hello'. I've had several different words and none seem to fit.
This project has been such fun to do so far. It never occurred to me in a million years that I would be trying something so bizarre. I've found it's no different to learning a language either. Time is needed for any sort of fluency (possibly more because I don't have the time I want to work on it and I often change my mind) and I find myself constructing the same sentences I've seen on cards from when I was very young. I've seen cards from when I was about 6 or so, just learning to write, and I've caught myself trying to write those same sentences now in my language.
My language...such a strange thing to write. Not something I ever saw coming in my life but I don't care. This is such fun, so creative and exciting. It's never wrong because it's my language. The rules are mine to construct and break as are the words, grammar and pronunciation. In my mind this is my ultimate project. For no one can ever tell me it's wrong because it's from and for my mind only. Such an ego boost. :D
Showing posts with label sounds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sounds. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Words, Sounds and Problems
Trying to think up new words is really hard I've discovered. Finished Uni exams so I finally have time to think about it and I'm stuck. Problem is that every time I work out enough words for a sentence (which sound like ones written by 3 year olds ie. 'I love you' etc) they sound stupid and I can't work out why.
I've listened to some other Conlang projects online and they sound quite good. I don't get why mine sounds so....I'm not sure. Forced? Stumbling? Just plain weird! My word length is varied, I've gotten some words which have the right letters to have the softer sounds but it still sound dumb.
Part of the problem is I can't get the inflection. When we speak our voices rise and fall naturally. English has more variation than some languages and Italian has even more than English. I need that but I can't find it. I can't find the rhythm.
My mother, who thankfully doesn't want to have me committed for doing this and is even willing to talk about it, said a sentence the other day. I'd told her the words of course and she said them as if she were speaking English. She got it! I'm TOTALLY jealous! How come she could say it and I couldn't? The only good thing was that when she said the sentence it sounded quite decent. Not perfect but decent.
I'm trying to get a softness, a thoughtfulness to this language. The idea behind the language came about because I write for fun. I have dozens of stories now and probably thousand of pages. I created a culture and I thought it would be fun to create a language for that culture. I wanted the language to match the culture however and this culture is quite thoughtful, doing things carefully and deliberately rather than quickly. At some point I hope the language will match however for now I'm quite enjoying this project. I keep thinking how totally cool it would be to walk down the street somewhere and hear someone say something in your language!
I've listened to some other Conlang projects online and they sound quite good. I don't get why mine sounds so....I'm not sure. Forced? Stumbling? Just plain weird! My word length is varied, I've gotten some words which have the right letters to have the softer sounds but it still sound dumb.
Part of the problem is I can't get the inflection. When we speak our voices rise and fall naturally. English has more variation than some languages and Italian has even more than English. I need that but I can't find it. I can't find the rhythm.
My mother, who thankfully doesn't want to have me committed for doing this and is even willing to talk about it, said a sentence the other day. I'd told her the words of course and she said them as if she were speaking English. She got it! I'm TOTALLY jealous! How come she could say it and I couldn't? The only good thing was that when she said the sentence it sounded quite decent. Not perfect but decent.
I'm trying to get a softness, a thoughtfulness to this language. The idea behind the language came about because I write for fun. I have dozens of stories now and probably thousand of pages. I created a culture and I thought it would be fun to create a language for that culture. I wanted the language to match the culture however and this culture is quite thoughtful, doing things carefully and deliberately rather than quickly. At some point I hope the language will match however for now I'm quite enjoying this project. I keep thinking how totally cool it would be to walk down the street somewhere and hear someone say something in your language!
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