Second languages and sentence structure

Posted by Glenn Kempf on 3:11 6/25/02

In reply to: Second languages and sentence structure posted by Glenn Kempf on 00:46 6/24/02

Dear Mark,

Thanks for the info about the Ezichimi and the Tzhuro; I hadn't thought about the Arab analogy. (In fact, the desert dwellers in my setting, the Ramiya, are deliberately designed to have a number of parallels with the Arabs of our world, and now you've got me thinking of some ways to handle them, too... In addition, my family recently sent me Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel from the States (I'd read a couple bits and pieces previously), and it's had a definite impact on my ideas as well.)

Sorry if my description was vague; I was trying to keep the post from growing out of control. (I can definitely add more verbiage if you like, but the bulk of it should probably wait for a full-scale account. :-) In answer to your question, the port city was conquered by the Empire, rather than built; it had a substantial past history of its own already, and I therefore expect it to maintain a distinct identity, even integrated into the Empire. (My initial map had it in a location that would tend to make it conquered even sooner than I'd like; I'll have to do something about that. ;-)

Your advice about the coastline is understood and well taken, and coincidentally matches the evolution of the setting; each time I've re-imagined the map, the coast of the continent has grown steadily more ragged, with lots of fjords and channels and island chains, and I think the effect will need to be increased further. (If this keeps up, Slartibatfast will love it.) I only hope that the "final" result will do it justice; I'm learning to draw maps with a paint program for the first time. I do hope to have it up one of these days--always assuming that I'll have the time, of course....

Ad onlelaacute;n,
Glenn