What tools do you use for conlanging?

[Terra]

I currently use an excel (.xlsx) file, but this is unsatisfactory in many ways. For example, I would like to filter words by their tag, so for example, I can view only words that have the 'color' tag, but the best that excel can do is order a record (row) according to its tag property (column). If an entry has multiple tags, and the 'color' tag isn't first, it won't appear grouped with the rest, and you may miss it. You also can't do something like (hyper-)link to another entry. Also, I feel like an excel file too soon grows into something unwieldy.

So, what tools do you use for conlanging? Are you satisfied with them? What would your ideal tool look/be like?

[Shrdlu]

I use notepad of all stupid stuff. That is all. You all didn't need this post but here you go

[Terra]

I use notepad of all stupid stuff. That is all. You all didn't need this post but here you go

So, how do you record an entry? Does each entry have multiple lines? One for the word, one for the part-of-speech, one for the etymology, etc?

[----]

I do something similar, Terra. I have a google docs spreadsheet of the whole lexicon of a conlang (including affixes and such), and that's pretty much it. I have the terrible habit of not ever writing down the formal rules for any of my languages' grammars but somehow I manage to remember them all pretty well.

EDIT: the listing categories are pretty simple. it's just [ word | p. of speech | definition ]

[Matrix]

I used to use notepad, and currently use word, and what I do is have sections in the list based on parts of speech, so I'll have the list of nouns, the list of verbs, etc. An entry in my files is one line, and looks like this:

word - definition(s)

[Shrdlu]

Some files contains grammar sketches and words or one of the other. Sometimes I create a new document and rewrite the whole grammar changing some parts to something that I like just that time.

I don't create a full vocabulary, rather I derive words as I need them. I made a set of phonotactial rules for my self that I adhere to.

[LinguistCat]

Google drive, usually just a text file for storing things. And Awkwords for random word generation, since otherwise I have a tendency of using too much of certain sounds and not enough of others. Which is fine if I'm making up random words for in a fantasy world, but not so much if I'm doing a serious conlang and trying to NOT make it sound like either English, Japanese or vaguely Slavic.

[WanderlustKoko]

I tend to start new conlangs with a notebook and pen and then transfer them to either Open Office, Microsoft Word or a Google Document. Although my current project (Karuslnko) is being organised via a Wordpress.com website.

[Zaarin]

I use Word, with one file for my lexicon and one for my grammar. Here's a sample lexical entry from one of my more recent languages, Ashkalite:

Rūḫaˀ ܪܟܵܐܽ /ˈʀuːχɐʔ/ n.f. soul
[From Classical Ashkalite rūkaˀ "soul, spirit."]

(Yes, I have an in-universe explanation for why it's written in Syriac script: the language was originally unwritten, with what few written fragments there were written in a very unwieldy syllabary from a neighboring language. The first native script was devised by a Syriac priest who was working as a missionary among the Ashkalite people. His somewhat ad hoc script was later formalized by a native scholar who was less familiar with Syriac but more familiar with Ashkalite. I actually use Serto not Estrangalo, but I don't have a Serto font on this computer so Estrangalo Edessa will have to do.)

[Terra]

I'm surprised that so many of you use a simple text (or .docx) file. Do you not feel constrained or limited by it at all? Text files get unwieldy even faster than spreadsheet files imo.

[CaesarVincens]

For example, I would like to filter words by their tag, so for example, I can view only words that have the 'color' tag, but the best that excel can do is order a record (row) according to its tag property (column). If an entry has multiple tags, and the 'color' tag isn't first, it won't appear grouped with the rest, and you may miss it.

Actually, (depending on the version), you should be able to use a built-in filter tool. On the home tab, the drop-down menu Sort & Filter>Filter (on a selection). It takes the first selected row as the label and will allow you to filter all the selected columns by any term. Excel will hide any unselected terms If you have multi-tags, those are treated as different terms to filter by, so not the most convenient, but more workable than sorting, and the filter is searchable and will select multi-terms in the search (and deselect any terms that don't fit the search).

You also can't do something like (hyper-)link to another entry. Also, I feel like an excel file too soon grows into something unwieldy.

Hyperlinks are possible in excel sheets as well, to refer to an outside file or a cell reference although the hyperlinks are not dynamic and will point to the same cell even if the file is sorted (moving the linked entry). So, hyperlinks are possible, but probably not very helpful (other than switching sheets perhaps or referring to something that won't be moved).

I've created a quick sample of a sheet with a couple links and a filtered vocab list.

[Matrix]

I'm surprised that so many of you use a simple text (or .docx) file. Do you not feel constrained or limited by it at all? Text files get unwieldy even faster than spreadsheet files imo.

I have never used a spreadsheet in my life, so that probably has something to do with it. But no, I don't feel constrained or limited.

[Pole, the]

I use:
Notepad++
Microsoft Office Excel 2007
sca2 - sound change applier
The Frequentizer.
… and some old tools of mine.

[Terra]

Actually, (depending on the version), you should be able to use a built-in filter tool. On the home tab, the drop-down menu Sort & Filter>Filter (on a selection). It takes the first selected row as the label and will allow you to filter all the selected columns by any term. Excel will hide any unselected terms If you have multi-tags, those are treated as different terms to filter by, so not the most convenient, but more workable than sorting, and the filter is searchable and will select multi-terms in the search (and deselect any terms that don't fit the search).

I only recently started using the .xlsx format. Before that, I used MS Office 2000... for the past 14 years. Thanks for teaching me about the filter option. Indeed, it's not quite optimal for searching tags.

I have never used a spreadsheet in my life, so that probably has something to do with it. But no, I don't feel constrained or limited.

Spreadsheets are very useful. I very much recommend learning how to use them.

[WeepingElf]

I keep my conlangs in HTML files which I edit with GNU Emacs. There are also scratch notes on paper and in plain text files.

[Aili Meilani]

A fellow Emacs user? Cool!

[gach]

Apart from notebooks and scrap paper I keep my stuff organised in plain text files or typeset it into PDFs with LaTeX. I've been more interested in doing grammar than lexicon so I've been fine with simply gathering plain text word lists by hand with maybe a reverse index to help finding the items. One of these days I'll start creating lexicon on a more massive scale and then I'll probably need to learn more about databases.

[Particles the Greek]

Hey, I use emacs too!

But for conlanging, you can't beat these:

[Ketumak]

My process are all in transition at the mo. I start with notes using pen and pad. Increasingly, I then work up rough drafts using Kingsoft word-processor on my tablet. These get fleshed out into proper texts on the PC using Open Office then into web pages on my Google Site. Vocabulary is stored in Open Office databases.

I'm currently moving to a WordPress site where I plan to use pdfs.

Online tools - I find Zompist's Gen handy for vocab ideas, though I don't rely on it. If nothing else it thinks of combinations you wouldn't come up with yourself.

[Aili Meilani]

Hey, I use emacs too!

But for conlanging, you can't beat these:
[picture of dice]

FYI, Emacs has a PRNG built-in, see function random. If you need pseudo-random floating-point numbers, use cl-random instead.

[zompist]

There's a lot about my methods here.

I mainly use Word, with heavy use of the search function. I double-enter prepositions, numbers etc. in the grammar so I have lists of those; if I forgot, I can search the part-of-speech column.

For Verdurian, where I was aiming for completeness, I created separate by-subject and English-to-conlang lexicons. And even a dictionary of alliterations.

I've used Excel, mostly when clients have some material to work with. It's nice for searching and sorting, but I think encourages too-simple dictionaries (few separate senses, mostly one-word English glosses).

I use my own tools (gen, SCA2); if the morphology gets hairy I may write a conjugation utility.

For Web conversion, I wrote my own rtf-to-html converter, but now that I can't use Mac Word 5.1, I'll have to come up with something else.

[Curlyjimsam]

MS Word, mostly. Notepad quite a bit for stuff I don't want to go into detail for.

I used to use the SIL dictionary program (I forget its name ...) for my main languages, until I accidentally deleted the source files when I got a new computer. (They were in a different place from all my other files. I kept the exported .rtf files though, so I didn't lose any information.) Now I just use Excel, which I think I actually prefer.

[prettydragoon]

I use Open Office and Notepad. The Rireinutire lexicon lives in an .xls spreadsheet. I've got separate sheets for English to Rireinutire and Rireinutire to English wordlists. As of this writing, there are 3,638 headwords in the Rireinutire list and 6,697 headwords in the English list.

[Terra]

MS Word, mostly. Notepad quite a bit for stuff I don't want to go into detail for.

I used to use the SIL dictionary program (I forget its name ...) for my main languages, until I accidentally deleted the source files when I got a new computer. (They were in a different place from all my other files. I kept the exported .rtf files though, so I didn't lose any information.) Now I just use Excel, which I think I actually prefer.

I remember that program, whatever it's called. I've thought about building my own program that does something similar, but I'm not sure that it would be better than excel, and I really hate the thought (not to mention the work!) of reinventing the square wheel! A web-framework would be at least somewhat better, because then you're not reinventing displaying things on a screen, because that's what html and css are for. But I'm still not sure that the end product would be superior to excel. Sure, I could search by tags easier, but remaking the other things that one takes for granted in excel isn't easy.

[zyxw59]

I use plaintext files for almost everything, though I'm working on typing up a more formalized grammar for one of my langs using LyX. For a while I was working on a dictionary program in python, but I've basically stopped working on it at this point (although it does have a fully functional* sound change applier that I use frequently). I've found that text files are easy, since I can search them for words in my conlang or their definitions, and they're all in one place, so I can scroll through them if I'm looking for a word but don't remember how I defined it.

* within the python interpreter, and even then it requires some helper functions to be convenient