zompist bboard

Hey ZBB

I've never been very active here for some reason, but I thought I'd give you the latest update of what's happening with Siwa. There is the latest version of Siwa's Descriptive Grammar, which you can find here. You can also find the first couple of lessons ofthe Beginner's Course here. You can also have a listen to some recordings here. You can also bask in the papery glow of pictures of the printed edition here. If you're super rich or just don't know how to spend money, you can even buy the printed edition here.

Siwa is a very detailed apriori conlang set in native Quebec, whose mother proto-language developed in proximity to very early proto-Uralic but who migrated over the atlantic to settle North-America before the spread of the Algonquian people into Quebec. It also has a modern vocabulary which I am actively working on. The grammar is 725 pages, one of the most extensive and detailed conlangs out there.

You guys, this is just too much. You'll make me blush.

so is there any influence from uralic or native american languages?

how does the uralic connection work geographically?

This looks really good. The grammar is extremely impressive. It's rare I see a conlang grammar that I could genuinely mistake for a grammar of a real language if I didn't know better.

Unfortunately, the link to the sound files doesn't seem to be working - it just redirects to the Soundcloud homepage.

MONOBA wrote:You guys, this is just too much. You'll make me blush.

So, how do you say "get over yourself" in Siwa?

so is there any influence from uralic or native american languages?

how does the uralic connection work geographically?

It's all fairly well explained in the very first chapter. Basically, the proto-language was in some contact with the earliest form of proto-Uralic (preproto-?) west of the Urals, and with the spread of a competing culture, this proto-language moved westward and crossed the Atlantic, possibly along an ice bridge that covered most of northern Europe, Iceland, Greenland and northern Canada. They arrived somewhere in the southern eastern Woodlands right where the Shield-Archaic culture was, and they moved into present day Quebec before the spread of the Algonquian languages. There has been somewhat extensive contact between them and the now split-up proto-language daughters, which sped up the split into the three major branches of this language family, called Alopian.

Unfortunately, the link to the sound files doesn't seem to be working - it just redirects to the Soundcloud homepage.

Fixed, thank you!

So, how do you say "get over yourself" in Siwa?

This conlanging community has often had people like you which is probably why I don't post here much at all. I've not quite understood why the community as a whole, compared to the others, seem to give so little attention to one of the very most extensive conlanging projects out there. It sounds entitled to say that, but I have put enough work that at some point it can be frustrating. Maybe you can go work on your grammar and make your font even bigger and your pages even smaller, get that page count up. You'll get there. It shouldn't take too long since you're working on a posteriori....

Some projects get a lot of attention while others get very little. I'm not sure what it is that separates them, but I sometimes suspect it may have something to do with the closeness of the relationship between the people involved. Your project is of course very extensive and something that we can aspire towards, but I don't think there's a need to get vindictive about people who don't show interest.

Of course not. I just brought a snappy answer to a snappy comment I am ever so thankful for any comment or criticism on the language itself. I tried to bump the thread with a touch of humor, which may not have come across to everyone. But zompist and I have always had some kind....lesser compatibility, and I don't know why. Thankful nonetheless though, I have to make that totally clear. If you take time to read my project and have thoughts on it, then that's really awesome.

MONOBA wrote:Of course not. I just brought a snappy answer to a snappy comment I am ever so thankful for any comment or criticism on the language itself. I tried to bump the thread with a touch of humor, which may not have come across to everyone. But zompist and I have always had some kind....lesser compatibility, and I don't know why. Thankful nonetheless though, I have to make that totally clear. If you take time to read my project and have thoughts on it, then that's really awesome.

Yes, Dew was rude to you. But then, you were rude first - both demanding that people comment and being passive-aggressive and snide are liable to rile people, and if you act like that you can hardly be surprised if people snap back.
It also doesn't help if you a) tell us how superior you are to us and how your work is the best work ever, and b) insult other people's work.

Just to clarify, however, the worth of a conlang is not determined by how high you can "get the page-count up". [And given that your own grammar has page after page of great big tables listing things consonant by consonant, cluster by cluster and so forth, you're not exactly going for the super-compressed style youself] And on behalf of all the a posteriori conlangers you're sneering at, there's actually a hell of a lot of work required to get something to fit realistically into a language family or a location. I'd wager Dew knows a fair bit more about PIE, Romance and Celtic linguistics than you do about Uralic. It's also somewhat arrogant to assume that everyone is primarily interested in making one single fixed language with a very large printed grammar - Dew, for instance, has shared four or five interesting languages, at least, with the board.


As for why I personally didn't comment - what did you want me to say? I've been praising Siwa for years, told others about it, back in the day even made some substantial comments on parts of it. But it's still Siwa. There's not a lot I can muster up to say about "hey, remember that language I made? It still exists!" Well great, well done, that's good. I don't have time to learn it, and I don't have speakers right now to listen to it, not that listening to conlangs is something that interests me anyway. The choice of colour for the book cover was very tasteful. And... what else am I to say, exactly? Plus, you know, it's also exactly the same post that you only just made on the CBB, and a lot of us are on both forums.

Not that you shouldn't have made the post, of course. By all means let us know how you're doing, we don't see enough of you. It's just... don't get all vindictive and imperious if people don't immediately have anything in particular to say about it!

You're right, I was an asshole. I apologize for that. I'm not sure what to say other than the bump comment was meant to come across as self-deprecating.

I've not quite understood why the community as a whole, compared to the others, seem to give so little attention to one of the very most extensive conlanging projects out there.

The trend is that people are more interested in weird or unique languages rather than the ones with the most extensive documentation.

I've never come across this language, but the documentation looks quite thorouhg. Nice!


JAL