Conlang Workshop 5: Your Conlang in Context
by Jam Ham
Your Conlang in Context
The many uses of language beyond describing the physical world
How meaning changes based on tone, culture, and context
Figurative language, idioms, and how they evolve
Phatic expressions and their role in social interaction
Task #5: Translate Phrases Into Your Conlang!
For this week, to better prepare you guys for the final workshop assignment where we'd be setting up a phrasebook, translate at least 5 phrases into your conlang! This exercise is to also get you to think more about the pragmatics of your language as well as the speakers of your language (if applicable). Think about how context and social/cultural considerations affect what is said and how it's said (and vice versa!).
I'd like to see at least one phrase from each of the following categories:
Greetings
e.g.: Hello! Good morning/afternoon/evening! How's it going?
Introductions
e.g.: What's your name? My name is ___. Where are you from? I'm from ___."
Parting Phrases
e.g.: It was nice meeting you! Goodbye! See you soon!
Other Common Expressions
e.g.: expressions of gratitude (Thank you! You're welcome!), event greetings (Happy Birthday! Happy ___!), directions (Where is the ___? Just head ___ to find it.)
Some Fun Expressions
e.g.: "My hovercraft is full of eels." "Houston, we have a problem." "May the force be with you." You can also find other media quotes or make your own!
Be creative when translating some of these! What if your conpeople don't know what a hovercraft or an eel is? How would they describe one if it was their first time seeing one? What exactly is the force to your conpeople?
If you can, include:
A phonemic or phonetic transcription of each phrase (transcribe it /phonemically/ or take [allophonic rules] into consideration).
An outline, explanation, or detailed breakdown of each morpheme component of the phrase (what is each morpheme doing in the sentence?).
Also, I'd like to redirect you to ConWorkShop, which is a website where you can document and showcase your conlang! If you're having trouble finding phrases to translate:
There's a handy page that lists phrases for you to translate right here (CWS phrasebook).
You can also check out other texts to translate, which include commonly translated excerpts as well as ones submitted by the community!
Remember that we have a clan page on ConWorkShop too! I'm still trying to figure out what fun stuff we should do there at the moment, but for now you can use it as a handy badge :)