Blog

This is a list of articles and blogs written by Yours Truly about conlanging and worldbuilding, not necessarily about things pertaining to my personal projects. The following entries are original to me and free for you to use and quote, but I do ask that if you use them, please credit me (Paul A. Daly, Wikistania) and let me know by sending me a message on Reddit (u/upallday_allen).

===Constructed Languages for Novelists: How to Apply a Good Conlang to Your Next Novel === Version 1.2, 18 December 2018

A detailed article that discusses the different roles a constructed language can play, how to create a language designed for readability and aesthetics, and strategies for how to use a conlang in dialogue without confusing readers in a way that adds to the story rather than taking away from it.

===Constructing Languages for Normal People === Not even a Work In Progress; Just a Daydream

A(nother) beginner's guide to conlanging geared toward worldbuilders and novices whose heads boil with the thought of language and how it works. This guide attempts to be as succinct, accurate, and resourceful as possible, defining every term - including "language" - to make it as clear and practical as possible. This article also pulls fascinating fun facts from languages all over the world to offer inspiration and reveal that naturalistic conlanging is much more exciting and freer than dry tables of conjugations.

This is a five-part series:


 * Constructing Languages for Normal People Part 1: What is Language and Why is it Important?
 * An introduction to language, linguistics, and makes a case for why conworlds should have languages and why anyone can learn the mysteries of linguistics.
 * Constructing Languages for Normal People Part 2: Sounds
 * An introduction to phonology, phonotactics, allophony, prosody, and root-generation.
 * Constructing Languages for Normal People Part 3: Words
 * An introduction to semantics, lexical categories, and morphology.
 * Constructing Languages for Normal People Part 4: Sentences
 * An introduction to syntax, phrase types, and typology.
 * Construction Languages for Normal People Part 5: Usage
 * An introduction to pragmatics, diachronics, and cultural attitudes toward language.