Language Invention in Linguistics Pedagogy

323 Pages·2020·7.241 MB·

by  Jeffrey Punske (editor), Nathan Sanders (editor), Amy V. Fountain (editor)

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Language Invention in Linguistics Pedagogy
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/7/2020,SPi
“Linguists consider their object of study as part of the natural world. But
languageisalsosomethingwecancreate.Thecontributionsinthisbookshow
how an emphasis on the artificial rather than the natural can help create
enthusiasmaboutlinguisticsandinsightintolanguage,amongschoolchildren
anduniversitystudentsalike.”
MarcvanOostendorp,RoyalNetherlands
AcademyofArtsandSciencesandRadboudUniversityNijmegen
“This lively volume from well-respected conlangers, teachers, and linguists
convincinglymakesthecasethatinventedlanguagescanbeusedasacreative
pedagogical tool to introduce students to linguistics. The chapters argue that
conlangingin theclassroomwillallow ustoreach abroaderstudentpopula-
tionandbettertrainbuddinglinguists.”
EricPotsdam,UniversityofFlorida
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/7/2020,SPi
Language Invention in
Linguistics Pedagogy
Edited by
JEFFREY PUNSKE, NATHAN SANDERS,
AND AMY V. FOUNTAIN
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/7/2020,SPi
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OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/7/2020,SPi
Contents
ListofFigures vii
ListofTables ix
ListofAbbreviations xi
TheContributors xv
1. Introduction 1
JeffreyPunske,NathanSanders,andAmyV.Fountain
2. A primer on constructed languages 6
NathanSanders
3. Budding linguists and how to find them 27
ArikaOkrent
4. The linguistics of Arrival: Heptapods, field linguistics,
and Universal Grammar 32
JessicaCoon
5. Three conlang projects at three educational levels 49
DavidAdgerandCoppevanUrk
6. The design(ing) of language 69
GrantGoodall
7. Using language invention to teach typology and
cross-linguistic universals 86
MattPearson
8. Teaching invented languages to the undergraduate major:
A capstone course 107
AngelaC.Carpenter
9. Teaching invented languages as an introductory course:
Unfamiliar territory 125
JamesA.Berry
10. Bringing language construction from the classroom to the
community 137
CarrieGillon,EdwardDelmonico,RandiMartinez,
andSpencerMorrell
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11. The interdisciplinarity of conlangs: Moving beyond linguistics 169
NathanSandersandChristineSchreyer
12. Teaching Proto-Indo-European as a constructed language 186
BrennaReinhartByrdandAndrewMilesByrd
13. Learning about language through language invention:
“I was really proud of the language I created” 208
SkyeJ.Anderson,ShannonT.Bischoff,JeffreyPunske,and
AmyV.Fountain
14. Extraterrestrial message construction: Guidelines for the
use of xenolinguistics in the classroom 239
SheriWells-JensenandKimberlySpallinger
15. Artistry in language invention: Conlang pedagogy and the
instructor as authority 251
DavidJ.Peterson
References 283
Index 299
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List of Figures
2.1 LitteræIgnotæ 10
2.2 Enochianneography 11
2.3 SomesyllablecorrespondencesinSolresol 15
2.4 SampleBliss-wordsinBlissymbolics 16
5.1 WritingsystemfortheconlangXiverašagin,createdbySarahAsinari 66
5.2 WritingsystemfortheconlangKakhelija,createdbyAlexandre
Etcheheguy 67
6.1 Samplevowelinventorywithpoordispersion 74
6.2 Samplevowelinventorywithgooddispersionbutpoornaturalclasses 75
6.3 Samplevowelinventorywithgooddispersionandgoodnaturalclasses 77
7.1 Spinnerwheelfordeterminingcorecasealignment 93
7.2 Spinnerwheelfordeterminingadpositiontype(languageisOV) 95
7.3 Spinnerwheelfordeterminingadpositiontype(languageisVO) 95
7.4 Spinnerwheelfordeterminingorderofnounandrelativeclause
(languageisOV) 97
7.5 Spinnerwheelfordeterminingorderofnounandrelativeclause
(languageisVO) 97
10.1 Ryazhyavũ(writteninRyazhyavũ) 143
10.2 ExamplesoflexicalcharactersinRyazhyavũ 144
10.3 ExamplesofgrammaticalcharactersinRyazhyavũ 144
10.4 Ryazhyavũvowelsystem 144
10.5 ExamplesentenceinRyazhyavũ 145
10.6 ‘dəzɲæk’aswrittenindəzɲæk 148
10.7 Dəzɲækorthography 150
10.8 ExamplewrittenwordsinThoYor 156
11.1 Generalstructureofasongbirdsyrinx 175
11.2 Shiftedunderwatervowelspace 178
11.3 Compressedunderwatervowelspace 179
11.4 SchematicdiagramofacouncilchairfromManofSteel(2013) 181
13.1 Distributionofgradesbymodeofinstruction 221
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13.2 Distributionofgradesbyclassstanding 221
13.3 Distributionofgradesbyacademiccollege 222
13.4 ResponsestothepromptSomelanguagesaremoreadvancedthan
others 226
13.5 ResponsestothepromptOurabilitytounderstandtheworldis
constrainedbythecategoriesgivenusbytheparticularlanguage(s)
wespeak 227
13.6 ResponsestothepromptEnglishismorecomplicatedthanmost
languages 227
13.7 ResponsestothepromptInventingalanguagemostlyinvolves
translatingEnglishwordsintomade-upwords 228
13.8 ResponsestothepromptTrulyaccuratetranslationbetween
languagesisimpossible 228
13.9 ResponsestothepromptIcanusuallybreakcomplicated
newwordsintotheircomponentparts,andfigureoutwhattheymean 229
13.10 ResponsestothepromptIcanreadilyidentifywordsinsentences
bytheirpartsofspeech(i.e.‘noun’,‘verb’,‘adjective’,etc.) 229
13.11 ResponsestothepromptIknowhowtoidentifythemainpartsof
asentence(i.e.‘subject’,‘directobject’,‘predicate’) 229
13.12 ResponsestothepromptIamawell-organizedstudent 230
13.13 ResponsestothepromptIamgoodatusingmyword-processing
programtoformatdocumentsindifferentways 230
13.14 ResponsestothepromptIlikeworkingonbig,multi-partprojects 230
13.15 Responsesabouttheeffectivenessoftheproject 232
13.16 Responsesaboutthecomplexityandlengthoftheproject 233
13.17 Responsesaboutcontinuedrelevanceoftheproject 234
13.18 Responsestothestatement“Iwasreallyproudofthelanguage
Icreated”acrossallrespondents 235
13.19 Responsestothestatement“Iwasreallyproudofthelanguage
Icreated”bystudentcharacteristic 235
13.20 Responsestothestatement“Iwasreallyproudofthelanguage
Icreated”bystudent’sprogramarea 236
13.21 Responsestothestatements“Ienjoyedcreatingmyownlanguage”
and“Isharedmylanguagewithfriendsorfamily” 236
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List of Tables
6.1 Sampleconsonantinventorywithpoordispersion 74
6.2 Sampleconsonantinventorywithgooddispersionbutpoor
naturalclasses 75
6.3 Sampleconsonantinventorywithgooddispersionandgood
naturalclasses 77
7.1 DistributionofalignmenttypesinWALS 93
7.2 DistributionofadpositiontypebyobjectplacementinWALS 94
7.3 DistributionofrelativeclausepositionbyobjectplacementinWALS 96
8.1 Samplepersonandnumbermorphology 111
8.2 Sampleconsonantchart 113
8.3 Sampleverbmorphologysystem 114
10.1 TheconsonantsofRyazhyavũ 143
10.2 Theconsonantsofdəzɲæk 149
10.3 TheconsonantsofThoYor 155
13.1 Exam2resultsbeforeandafterintroductionofproject 222
13.2 Studentcharacteristics 225
13.3 Student-reportedareasofmajor(s) 226
15.1 ThecorecasesofDavidBell’sámmanîar 254
15.2 Acrosslinguisticsampleofsubject,object,andverbordering 261
15.3 Therelationshipbetweenobject-verborderandadposition-noun
phraseorder 264
15.4 Onepotentialsolutionto(11a) 271
15.5 Anotherpotentialsolutionto(11a) 272
15.6 Athirdpotentialsolutionto(11a) 275