zompist bboard

I've felt a lot of the problems people mention, too: focus, finding the time etc. I'd also add another to the list which is rising standards. As you learn more about linguistics, you want to put more into your conlanging. If your knowledge grows quickly you might even experience a paradox of doing m...

I didn't know Kay had a supermarket background - that explain's a lot about the show. I take Hound's point a bit - remembering is easier than creating from scratch, but there's still a lot of editing to be done. The writer need to pick out experiences from their memory that they can exaggerate for c...

I like the look of Twakani and I like the clause structure a lot. I'm rather confused by the description of the second example as continuous aspect as distinct from the progressive aspect of the first example. I see from Wikipedia that the term continuous aspect is used in different ways by writers ...

@ Mornche Geddick: yes, I think you are the first to comment here. It's good to know you liked it, as I'm thinking of getting my own copy soon with some Christmas money.

Father Ted was a favourite of mine. I liked the absurdness of it all. It has been said on the Board before now, that I look a bit like Father Ted, which kind of figures. The Office was another favourite. It was innovative in the way it resembled a reality show and in the way it made things funny an...

Whilst I've been away, my Magnetic Fields obsession has continued apace. I now have a whole new album of theirs to explore as well. Their Fifty song memoir contains one song for each year of songwriter Stephin Merritt's life. The new material has the usual bittersweet lyrics and unusual instrumental...

I've made a couple of musical discoveries whilst I've been away. One is a couple of Japanese acts BiS and BiSH, the other is Brazil's tecnobrega scene. The name means something like "cheesy tecno" or "naff tecno". It's happy and undemanding listening. I particularly like Gaby Amarantos. See here . T...

I hope the move to France happens, Masako. My own situation has improved since the Spring and the problems we had with my brother-in-law in the weeks before and after his mother's death. My wife and I have got a lot of work done on the estate and are nearly ready to get the paperwork signed off. Jus...

As I recall from the China Construction Kit, if a Chinese sentence has: Noun1 Verb1 Noun2 Verb2 Then Noun2 is the object of Verb1 and the subject of Verb2. If that's the model you're trying to avoid, how about Yoruba? I looked up Yoruba SVC a few years back for ideas for my Õtari conlang and discove...

This all sounds worrying, Risla. Hope you get a diagnosis and treatment soon. Meantime, have you tried soup? some of them can be quite clear. What about smoothies, or would those be a step too far?

To update: my own situation got a lot better then worsened again slightly. My wife and I got a lot of threats and accusations from her brother last month, in the aftermath of their mother's death. We ended up sending him a solicitor's letter and we think a cousin had a quiet word with him too. After...

Thanks for reviving the Schelling Point Game, mèþru My answers (edited once for spelling): 1. Name a planet. Pluto 2. Name a famous spoiler. The death of Dumbledore 3. License to sell hair tonic to bald eagles in _____. Bottles 4. Who is the rightful King of Jerusalem by legal inheritance from the c...

I'm afraid the British system is similar to the US one, Travis B described, so international precedents not looking too good. Over here, someone can be "sectioned", i.e. compulsorily placed in a mental health facility and oberserved/assessed for 28 days. This happened to my brother-in-law around 200...

Am liking both the found computer music and Audrey Fall!

That's quite a startling vowel set! This one caught my eye a while back: seed 1211814913. I struggle with theAttempting the three velar lateral stops (highlighted). Phonemic inventory Consonants m, n̻, mb, tʰ̻, t̻, nd̻, kʰ, k, ŋg, k͡xʰˡ, k͡xˡ, ŋg͡ɣˡ , f, h, ɹ̻, , ʟ Vowels i, ĩ, u, ũ, ɛ, ɛ̃, ɔ, ɔ̃, a...

Not particularly credible in themselves, fortunately. Though I think they're indicative of some kind of serious move against us when we have the arguments we will need to have. Not knowing what exactly he will do or when does rather prey on your mind.

I'm increasingly reading "The New European" newspaper. It's aimed at the 48% of Brits who voted to stay in the EU in last year's referendum. It was originally billed as a pop-up newspaper, saying it would last as long as there was a demand. This was expected to be a matter of weeks. It's still going...

My absences from the board get longer and this post doesn't mark a full-time return, but things have been pretty crazy here of late. Where to start an explanation? I've mentioned before that I was helping edit my mother-in-law's biography of her father. We've also had increasing caring responsibilit...

Ha! I like it. And why not play Christmas music. We're still in the twelve days of Christmas.

I keep playing this. It's the EDM remix of a 16th century Latin carol. Nice animation to go with it.

Gaudete by Erasure

Fair enough. I was just thinking we once paid in for an emergency air fare for a member, so there is precedent should you need it in future. Perhaps under the circs a break is for the best. Best explain to the college exactly what the problem is though, so they'll know it's not lack of motivation or...

I'm not he to judge you either, Chagen. I can't offer much in the way of advice over family situation, but as to the raising of 230 dollars in five days - I wonder if it could be crowd-funded? If you set something up and advertise it here and on RoCB, maybe we could all chip in a little and raise it...

That alphabet song's good a nice hypnotic sound to it. I've been somewhat "fantasied-out" of late, after reading all the Game of Thrones books in a few months. I thought I'd try some "proper literature" again, as it's been a while. I read A little life by Hanya Yanagihara. It follows four friends ov...

I'm another one with problems with the Trumpists in my life. Most of my relatives in Michigan voted DJT,especially one cousin and her husband. My wife and I got on really well with them when they came over last summer. The husband has done some interesting family history research on both sides of th...

I've long been intrigued by the name of Čia-Ša language family. It's a sub-group of Eastern, yet the names are so brief and don't look at all Eastern to me. I expect then, that something pretty radical is going on there and would like to know more. Are there any plans to develop a Čia-Ša language in...

My earliest concultures were added to our world. Mostly to islands. Though of late I've focussed on a parallel Earth, known to its inhabitants as Tekuo. I'm most interested in an island there called Mohai which has no counterpart in our world. This is possible because the parallelism goes way back i...