Update: 9th May

[k_a_webb]

Even with help I’m having trouble with making languages. It’s something I really want to do, but no matter how often I go back to the information I have it just doesn’t make sense to me. What I want to do is work on two different languages, one for Thear and one for the Fae World/the World Walkers. Both change as time passes and are slightly different in different places or when used by different races. I know what I want to do with them. I just don’t know how to make them in the first place. Well, technically I do. Start with the phonemes. To be honest I think that’s where I’m having the biggest problems. I’m almost certain I could do the bit that comes after the phonemes, but that’s no good as I can’t do the phonemes in the first place.

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

Comments

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

If I ever have time, I'll see what I can do with this.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Dumb question maybe, but: Have you looked at conlang forums and sites? A Google search on conlangs finds inter alia:
- Language Creation Society (http://conlang.org/)
- Conlang Wikia (http://conlang.wikia.com/wiki/Portal:Main)
- Make A Lang: Conlanging for Non-Linguists: Resources, Learning Experiences, and Fun! (http://makealang.blogspot.com/2007/11/common-conlanging-pitfall.html). A blog; this link is to a post called "A Common Conlanging Pitfall", which is so short I'll paste it here:

Don't have time for a long post today, so I thought I'd make a quick post about one of the common conlanging pitfalls I've experienced and hear others talking about a lot.

I've been guilty of as this as well: throwing in TOO MUCH. Putting in too many phonemes, morphemes, and basically throwing in everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink! I think this happens because all of us speak a very developed, rich language, whatever it is. We want our conlang to be as full and rich, but this will NOT happen overnight or even in a few years. THINK SIMPLE. ESPECIALLY if you are working on your first conlang.

Think about this for a few minutes. When are we most creative? When we have less to work with, because we have to be. Think of preparing a meal: you are in a huge kitchen with fully stocked cupboards and freezer. You can make ANYTHING. What do you make? You're paralyzed for a few moments as you consider the possibilities. Then maybe you start making something, but start looking through that cupboard at all the other ingredients in there. And that pantry over there. And all through the freezer, wondering just how many different meats and fish they have in there. BUT, what if you were in a small kitchen? What if you only had ten ingredients, but you only want to use five, so that you have something left over for another meal tomorrow? You work more quickly, and you get more creative. The end result may not be a masterpiece, but that doesn't mean that its worthless. Conlangs are, by their nature, works that are continually updated, tweaked, and polished.

Choose fewer building blocks and be more creative with them. Once you've done a conlang or two, even if you get thrown into the huge kitchen, you will know how to make a few things and you can make them again, and start experimenting with other ingredients, or more ingredients.

Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Whom: Consulting Linguist, Grammarian, Orthoëpist, and Philological Busybody

PS: After posting this comment and rereading your post, I had a think, I did. I'm not a conlanger, but I am a language geek, as both amateur and professional. I've spoken Esperanto for most of my life and I've given workshops on Klingon pronunciation. I've studied six or eight languages formally and many more informally, and I've been a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania for about ten years. So I think I can claim to have some reasonable ideas about the scope of the task and some ways to pare it down to starter size.

Here's the think: You're starting off with too big a bite. Creating two languages, with diachronic (= over time) change and dialectal variations, is a BIG project, way too big for a beginner.

Start with one language, at one point in place and time and population. I assume you've got a pretty good sense of your 'verses; choose a where-when-who that you're familiar and comfortable with, one you've written about a lot and don't have to stop and think about every detail of. You'll have a good sense of what's important to these people and what's common in their lives.