LangTime Chat

In this episode we continue work on our beaver names to try to get things done on Sovála in time for Kopikon then announce a new fun thing at the end!

In this episode, we chat about the Suh Ankripton language, which we created for James Gunn’s Superman movie. The presentation we use throughout the episode is attached. We apologize for the belated appearance of this episode and hope you enjoy learning more about the Kryptonian language we created for the film! ltc66Download

In this episode, we chat with Jonathan about the practice of conlanging in general, including how taking different approaches can be helpful! They talk about their experiences working with different processes (evolving a language, creating a language as is, creating languages that stretch the boundaries of how we might currently think about languages…). It was a great conversation with Jonathan, and we hope you all enjoy it!

Miles joins us for this riot of an episode, where we talk about the Western and Eastern dialects of Chielúú. As a forewarning, be ready for an earful of belly laughs near the end of the episode. The document Miles prepared with talking points about the dialects is attached to this post so you can follow along! Lexical and Grammatical Differences in the Chielúú DialectsDownload

Nemo joins us for this episode to chat about aspect in Isfasori (the PDF discussed in the episode is attached to this post). Nemo did some really cool things in the system, so check out this episode to hear about a singing squirrel and jumping rabbit! Isfasori TAM – NemoDownload

In this episode, Tabby joins us to talk about one of her orthographies and ideas for developing the shapes of the glyphs in different ways to reflect the materials available to the speakers. Tabby wrote a summary of the orthography as it is now and its historical development from older glyphs, which is attached here. (Don’t miss this document—the system is really cool!) We really enjoyed speaking with Tabby and hope you enjoy listening to the episode! Neography Langtime CritiqueDownload

Jake Penny is our guest extraordinaire in this episode, where we talk about the comparative construction in Jake’s language Pánkáshku. Jake provides a quick introduction to the basic grammar of the language before they dive into the features of the comparative. A PDF of the relevant section of the language document is attached to this post. Enjoy! Comparison in PánkáshkuDownload

I struggled with what to title this episode… but that’s what it is. We start with David putting out a call for volunteers to be a part of our new conlang review series, which will have varying formats, depending on what you (as a volunteer) would like to get out of the experience. Then we continue the episode with a very informal chat about our recent experiences on a work project (all under NDA, so the chatting is very informal, vague, and, at times, nebulous). This episode marks the wrapping up of our first five years of LangTime Chat! We look forward to what the sixth year brings!

This podcast episode was special because it was a surprise livestream for the Patrons who joined us for the end-of-month Patron stream! We reveal the results of the first ever LTS Mini Relay, which ran during the month of December, and the episode features two very special guests: Jake and Miles from Let’s Have a Bouba! Attached you’ll find the slides and the documents of the relay so you can follow along with all the texts. Enjoy! LTS Mini Relay ResultsDownload LTS Mini Relay_Full relayDownload LTS Mini Relay Results_codedDownload

In this episode, I give David a sample miniature relay text written in Vuochanad, and he works his way through translating the text, narrating his thought process as he works. Once he has a working English translation, he then translates the tiny text into High Valyrian, again narrating his thought process. At the end, we discuss areas where the translation had already shifted from my original intentions, and we introduce the upcoming challenge of this month: a very mini conlang relay! If you are interested in participating, let me know as soon as possible, so we can get the ball rolling. The relay is super informal and will be a very short text, so it will be a good way to test out a language you’re working on, to get introduced to what a conlang relay is like, or to just spend an evening of conlang fun doing a little challenge! Attached are the slides we used, the document David received (with the typos I found later…), and the document where David typed notes and did his translations. LangTime Chat Ep58Download Vuochanad relay text with David’s translationDownload Vuochanad relay textDownload

We unveil the results of the a posteriori challenge introduced in episode 56. Patrons helped us create a whole family of Wokuthízhű languages for communities of kangaroo rats, and the results are absolutely delightful! I have attached the slides for this presentation (really, a must for seeing all the amazing data set comparisons), and I’ve also attached the documents so you can all see the work submitted. It truly is astounding to see how much you all put into this challenge, and we can’t thank you enough for making this challenge so delightful! Bubba_Wokuthízhű projectDownload Dedalvs_ChallengeDownload Jake A Posteriori Challenge Results_ P’ananichDownload Jonathan_IjícoDownload LangTime Chat – Ep57Download Miles_LTS A Posteriori ChallengeDownload Sassafras_Wokuthízhű challengeDownload Sicilanguageist_LangTime A Posteriori ChallengeDownload

In this episode, we introduce the next LangTime conlang challenge: you get a chance to create an a posteriori conlang sketch built on Wokuthízhű! Tune in to find out the details, including information about the speakers of this new language. Attached here are the slideshow for the episode and guidelines for the challenge (both in Pages and PDF formats). LangTime Chat – Ep56 GuidelinesDownload LangTime Chat – Ep56Download LangTime Chat – Ep56.pagesDownload

In this episode, David and I discuss some of the a posteriori conlangs we have worked on. It is a brief intermission between two conlang challenges in our five-part mini-series on conlanging from existing material!

It’s the long-awaited episode, where we discuss results from the (in)famous FrameLang Challenge! This is a continuation of Episode 53, which introduces the challenge. All participants worked with the same data set: a sampling of English names, phrases, and clauses, which had to be treated as a base for a new conlang. It’s the same kind of process David and I use when we have to work with existing material in books/shows that incorporate bits of “language” that aren’t actually part of a full language system (i.e. varying degrees of gibberish) and then create an actual language built from those bits. Along with David and me, six Patrons submitted sketches based on the data. Attached to this post, you’ll find all the sketches and the slides we used in the podcast. Arayaz_FrameLangDownload Bubba_FrameLangDownload Danielle_FrameLang Language SketchDownload DJP_FrameLang Language SketchDownload Jake_FrameLang SketchDownload JasonL_Eshlent_ FrameLang Language SketchDownload LangTime Chat Ep54_slidesDownload Patrick_FrameLangDownload Sassafras_FrameLang Language SketchDownload

This episode begins a five-part miniseries exploring ways to conlang using pre-existing material. In this episode, we discuss some of the processes we use when we need to incorporate material from books (material that was created without the structure of a language) in a conlang. I set out a challenge for the month, which requires taking words and phrases in English and treating them as unknown entities, as source material collected from a book that needs a language built around it. Our next episode will present the results from that challenge. If you are interested in participating and having your results included in the next episode, send me your work via email or a DM on Discord before July 27, 2024. I’ve attached a PDF of the slides that accompany the episode, and I’ve also attached the Language Sketch document David and I will be using in three different formats (PDF, Pages, and Word). I have no idea how well the conversion from Pages to Word worked, so the formatting may be wonky on that version! Word_FrameLang Language SketchDownload LangTime Chat Ep53Download Pages_FrameLang Language Sketch.pagesDownload PDF_FrameLang Language SketchDownload

I submitted the manuscript of the textbook I’ve been writing for four years now, so David chose the book as the topic for this podcast. We talk about the overall structure of the book, my goals in writing it, and some features in its current state.

In this episode, we chat about designing glyphs. David designs two glyphs based on an image of a chicken that I drew as a starting point. One glyph is in the style of High Valyrian, while the second is a style inspired by Sarkezhe. I’ve attached the images of the chickens that I drew for inspiration for David to base his work on. We did our best to narrate a very visual task… We hope you enjoy!

This is a special episode of LangTime Chat based on a career-focused presentation I gave at Georgetown University in September 2023 (right before Kopikon). David has been encouraging me ever since to record it as a podcast episode, and I’ve finally listened and done it. It’s a bit shorter than a typical episode, but I hope you enjoy it, nonetheless. I’ve attached the PDF of the presentation slides I use throughout–there are quite a few images to go along with the journey! LangTime Chat – Ep50 Delicious Ambiguity, v2Download

We were finally able to see Dune 2 in the theater this past weekend, which means we finally saw and heard our work on the Chakobsa language in the film! And in this episode, we chat about the experience of seeing the movie and working on the film. At the beginning of the episode, David claims there will be spoilers, but there aren’t. While we talk about the language, we don’t give away plot points or even specific lines, really. We talk about the features in a much more general sense. We hope you enjoy this slightly belated episode!

In this episode, we chat about tense and aspect in this episode, and you get to witness the unveiling of a new LangTime animation! On a podcast! (What better way of podcasting is there but to use visuals?) All joking aside, we use an animation to present a small set of events and discuss ways a tense-prioritized system might handle the verbs versus the ways an aspect-prioritized system might handle them. For your reference, I’ve attached the slideshow we use throughout, and I am uploading the animation so you can witness it in all its 2.2-second glory. LangTime Chat – Ep48Download