So through my college, there is a program called "A Domain of One's Own," where students can set up their own domain name through the college (though actually hosted by cPanel). I've titled mine The New Phonetics out of my passion for linguistics, and I decided that my first post ought to be my piece of the phonotactic discussion we had here.

As such, I've given Limit Theory a formal plug, as Limit Theory's development is the only reason the discussion took place to begin with, and in making this post, I am sort of giving myself my own plug. I've put up a second post as well, which is a preview of the phonetic alphabet I've been working on.

If anyone here happens to take a liking to it, I shall keep this thread updated. If not, then this thread serves a singular purpose of letting Josh know that I've borrowed content from his forums. (Though I imagine it's not such a big deal, as I don't exactly have readers yet.)

EDIT: Changed the topic title.

Once again a member impresses me with his passion for a subject. You people continue to amaze me with the sheer depth and breadth of your knowledge. Thank you Grumblesaur!

Wow, this phonetic alphabetic is literally too cool. It's an amazing concept, like building a comprehensive programming language for the human mouth / vocal cords.

Really wish I had anywhere near that level of understanding...feel like it would be invaluable to understanding how to construct convincing / pleasing procedural names (perhaps even languages). Anyway. I'm glad that stuff is going to be moddable and...look forward to downloading "Grumblesaur's LT Linguistics Overhaul"

Definitely keep us posted on new stuff

I don't know too much about modding now, but I bet I'll be able to figure something out by the time Limit Theory has had a little while to be a game.

The phonetic alphabet divides all sounds up into their basic parts. Vowels are divided into four main aspects, openness, backness, roundedness, and tone (if the vowel has a tone). There are different pieces of symbols that represent all of these in varying degrees, and to get a vowel of a particular combination of those things, you just glue them together.

Consonants work similarly, in that they are divided into airstream type (non-pulmonic, oral, or nasal), place of articulation, manner of articulation, and voicing, and have different pieces based on each.

Then after you've worked out the main basis of the sound, you can add diacritics for secondary articulation, such as rhoticization (a more R-like sound), length (long, half-long, and extra-short vowels and consonants), release (inaudible, nasal), and other things.

Then you line them up left-to-right to make words. It's designed to not lend itself to be particularly easy or hard for speakers of any language to learn. It bears visual similarities to Tengwar and functional similarities to IPA, though is more regular than the former and less Eurocentric than the latter.

Bookmarked, and I look forward to v2.0 wherein it will be possible to create alien languages based on their non-human physiology. (Some science fiction novelists would love to have such a tool, if only for inspiration!)

Flatfingers wrote:Bookmarked, and I look forward to v2.0 wherein it will be possible to create alien languages based on their non-human physiology. (Some science fiction novelists would love to have such a tool, if only for inspiration!)

This would very well be possible, though it would require some knowledge of the aliens' vocal anatomy. Once that's established, I would just set aside a set of base parts for the alien vocal structure and apply the same system of putting pieces together.

Today's update: Music Composition vs. Writing Composition, a Comparison.

Grumblesaur wrote:Today's update: Music Composition vs. Writing Composition, a Comparison.

More fascinating reading Grumblesaur. I have never considered comparing language and music in this way. It seems I am now frequenting the LT forums to also partake of further education.

Victor Tombs wrote:More fascinating reading Grumblesaur. I have never considered comparing language and music in this way.

There is a public lecture on music by Leonard Bernstein (from the 60s or 70s, I'd say; I watched it on TV a long time ago), where he takes note of the fact that the German word for a movement in a symphonic work (or a sonata) is 'Satz', which literally translates as 'sentence'. He had a lot more to say about the analogies between music and language, too.

Thank you for the kind words and patronage. Updates will be regular on Mondays and Thursdays.

As for sonatas being "sentences," that is fascinating. I shall have to read more about Leonard Bernstein.

Grumblesaur wrote:As for sonatas being "sentences," that is fascinating.

Not quite. The sonata is sort of a short story, with the single movements ('Sätze') being the sentences.

Of course this analogy is limited, given that the sonata form ended up with a standard of three or four movements, and most short stories contain more sentences than only three or four. But the analogy is still fascinating.

Grumblesaur wrote:I shall have to read more about Leonard Bernstein.

After some googling I believe it's the Norton Lectures I'm referring to. And they're on Youtube, too, so you can dive right in.

Bernstein wasn't only a musical genius (as a conductor I preferred him over his contemporary Karajan throughout), but a great communicator as well.

(The downside of watching the series may be for you to discover that your ideas about music and linguistics have been already beautifully expressed 40 years ago. On the positive side, this only serves to prove that great minds think alike. And there is nothing new under the sun, anyway. )

Commander McLane wrote: (The downside of watching the series may be for you to discover that your ideas about music and linguistics have been already beautifully expressed 40 years ago. On the positive side, this only serves to prove that great minds think alike. And there is nothing new under the sun, anyway. )

Actually, it's affirming when you find out that someone from a completely different lifetime has similar ideas to your own. Sure, it makes my idea redundant, but it's extremely useful if I wanted to do more extensive research into it. I'd have some sources to start with. There's a basis for a community and a field of study there, and that's really cool.

I mean heck, Josh occasionally goes out on the intertubes and finds a programming thing that blows his mind, and then he applies that to Limit Theory (usually altering what he's found in the process). His RSAA (really simple anti-aliasing) method is a good example. So while not to question Bernstein's brilliance, I may have something to add after I've sat down and had a look at the Norton Lectures you've mentioned.

Or I might just have my mind blown.

Bernstein wasn't only a musical genius (as a conductor I preferred him over his contemporary Karajan throughout), but a great communicator as well.

He was also a composer, which underlies the ideas and theories that he communicated in his various lectures, recordings, and television appearances (such as Young People's Concerts).

As far as the comparison to Karajan, I like various recordings from both Bernstein and von Karajan.

Once again a member of the LT community comes to the aid of a fellow member and directs him to material he may never have discovered without assistance. Thanks for that Commander McLane.

I am sure there is still more for you to discover in this field of study. Who knows Bernstein's insights may be the tools you require to make the next leap forward.

I have often said to Josh that his passion for his chosen path in life was what most impressed me. He is not the first in the field of PCG but I think most of us here would agree that he will leave his own, not inconsiderable, mark on the subject if he continues in the manner he has in the development of Limit Theory. That makes me happy.

It would give me similar pleasure to see you making a major contribution to your field of interest. You certainly have the passion Grumblesaur.

Today's post: Telceira User Guide, version 0.
This is the first "official" version of the user guide, with IPA and Telceira examples compared side-by-side.
"Bugs" (that is to say, goof-ups and oversights) are listed within.