Hallo conlangers!

On Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:00:09 +0200 Armin Buch wrote:

> Conlangs being used where no natlang can give an example, that's just
> great! Thanks for finding them. I'll definitely work these stories into
> my course on conlangs ;)
> 
> So did they not know what these languages are? That handout has
> citations for every other language, but for Denden there is none. If
> they really need it, then they should have the guts to say that a
> conlang example is the best they found, that it looks plausible, and
> let's therefore say the gap in natlang data is merely accidental.

The bibliography section of this paper actually does list Boudewijn's
grammar of Denden - a document which in the introduction gives quite
clear indications ("Northern Hemisphere of Andal", "Charyan Empire"
etc.) that the language is fictional.  Sure, it is not as obvious as
with a "draconic language" or a "language of small furry beings from
the second planet of Tau Ceti", but scrupulous research should give
the result that the thing has been made up.

This is a significant problem with lostlangs, which are meant to be
set "in the real world", so any indications of fictionality by
mentioning obviously non-existent places aren't applicable, and
this worries me (whose main conlang projects are such lostlangs).
Such conlangs should come with a "This is a work of fiction"
warning sign on the front page.

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