Talk:Khemehekis Conlanger Taxonomy

Thanks for adding this! I think it's a very useful alternative to the venerable GnT. Elemtilas (talk) 17:56, 23 September 2019 (PDT)

You're welcome! Feel free to discuss it on the places where you're not banned. And I wish to thank you for finding good categories for it! Khemehekis (talk) 18:18, 23 September 2019 (PDT)

Nice stuff! However, I feel that it focuses too much on people making fictional languages. Not all conlangs are set in a conworld; most engelangs aren't, nor are (usually) auxlangs. It would be better to replace "conworld" with some broader term such as "project", or whatever to call a set of conlangs that somehow belong together (a suite of conlangs, perhaps?). --WeepingElf (talk) 07:23, 26 September 2019 (PDT)

Thanks for the input. I actually originally envisaged making replacers a type of auxlang or engelang creator who considers each new auxlang or engelang superior to the previous one and has it replace it -- Petro Stojan, for instance, created Eo, Espo, Idido, Liana, Linga franka, Ariana ("There are no tears left to cry"), Amiana, Renova, Spiranta, Uniala, and Unita (although I'm not sure in what order). Andrew Nowicki, creator of the engelang Ygyde, first developed a conlang called Ebubo and had Ygyde replace it. After I wrote the name down, however, I forgot my original intentions when it came time to type up the descriptions. Most auxlangers seem, to me, to be loyalists. Sonja Lang is probably a loyalist too -- she's done so much work with Toki Pona, and yet I've never heard of her creating another conlang! Khemehekis (talk) 16:05, 29 September 2019 (PDT)

I have made some tweaks on my page on this taxonomy. Khemehekis (talk) 21:00, 3 October 2019 (PDT)

As usual, Weeping Elf's thoughtful post & commentary on Conlang-L were a pleasure to read. However, I didn't (& don't) find the KCT to be overly focused on language inventors who also make fictional worlds. I would agree with you that in many places, the verbiage of the "descriptions" often touches on invented cultures and worlds. But the actual terms and their immediate definitions never actually involve any kind of invented world or culture per se. Khemekekis does wax poetical when he speaks in terms like the 'circumnavigator' who surveys the whole world. I suppose that could be interpreted to mean the whole of a fictional world or universe; but it could also mean the entirety of existence as expressed by the invented language. This could be the real &mundane world of every day life, it could be the spiritual world of which the mundane world is a part or it could be the interior world of the language inventor's own mind.

I think the concern is valid, but I remain unconvinced that the KCT as it exists at present stands guilty of the particular charge.

Khemekekis, as for your original idea of equating a taxon with a particular type of invented language (e.g., 'replacer' = auxlanger): I am glad you didn't go down that road! One of the best things about the KCT, and perhaps it's a matter of serendipititude that you "mislaid" your original intentions, is that it is more about the language inventor than about the invented language. To be frank, you can hardly beat the Gnoli Triangle when it comes to a basic taxonomic scheme of invented languages (though some have argued that their languages do and can not fit into that scheme). I found your approach a refreshingly parallel track, a sort of glossopoetic let's see who gets to Scotland first way of looking at the whole thing. While it might be interesting to see if any of these glossopoet types correlate with language types, I at least don't see a need to force that correlation. I'd hate to think I had to scrap everything and turn auxlanger just because I might fit Slytherinwise into house Loyalist! Elemtilas (talk) 10:37, 4 October 2019 (PDT)

Thank you, Elemtilas -- and please don't scrap The World! As for "surveys the whole world", I meant the whole, wide world of invented languages out there! There are alien langs, there are elflangs, there are micronational languages (I really need to start the article micronation soon), there are altlangs, there are Euroclones and worldlangs, there are logical languages, there are philosophical languages, there are languages for Bronze Age peoples, there are even jokelangs! That's a big world to explore, and circumnavigators really like to explore it. Jeffrey Henning and David J. Peterson strike me as two classic examples of circumnavigators (although Peterson is also a freelancer, no doubt!) -- basically, this type has multiple projects, or suites to use WeepingElf's term, of a wide diversity, and they generally keep these projects, unlike, say, a scrapper or a replacer. Khemehekis (talk) 16:55, 4 October 2019 (PDT)

Also, another thought, Elemtilas: You may in fact be a circumnavigator! Khemehekis (talk) 22:13, 26 April 2020 (PDT)

You could be right, there! Though I can't make any claims for inspiring or visionary! Elemtilas (talk) 18:15, 27 April 2020 (PDT)

Really? I'd say your stewardship of the conworlding-as-an-art gospel is definitely inspiring and visionary! Khemehekis (talk) 19:10, 27 April 2020 (PDT)