Paul Bartlett | Re: [LFN] Fed Up With Being Told Conlangs Are Waste of Time

• Autor: Paul Bartlett (“bartlett22183”)
• Tema: Re: [LFN] Fed Up With Being Told Conlangs Are Waste of Time
• Data: 2010-08-21 22:16
• Mesaje: 3170 (a supra, presedente, seguente)

On Fri, 6 Aug 2010, Steven wrote:

> Is it just me or does everyone seem to be against the pursuit of
> learning unusual languages, like LFN?  I seem to receive opinions
> ranging from mild derision to downright hostility toward it, and it
> drives me crazy.  Has anyone else experienced this?

Sadly, many people -- especially professional linguists (with a few
exceptions such as J.C. Wells, who is an Esperantist) -- simply do not
take constructed languages seriously, considering them the province of
hobbyists, litterateurs (such as Tolkien), cranks, crackpots, or
weirdos playing with toy languages that are "not real."  (I have a
thirty-six lecture set of presentations by the linguist John McWhorter,
and he spends perhaps ten minutes about conIALs, mostly to bash
Esperanto.)  As an advocate, I think this is very sad, but we must face
reality.  I myself am an advocate of conIALs (in general), but I
realize that we advocates must swim against a strong tide.  By all
means, work to the best of your ability for your chosen conIAL, use it,
advocate it, and swim mightily against the tide!

--
Paul Bartlett