Interview with Tony Harris

[podcast]http://conlang.org/podcast/LCS_Podcast-006-Harris.mp3[/podcast]

Sai interviews Tony Harris about his language Alurhsa. The conversation covers such topics as the grammar of Alurhsa, Tony’s spirituality, and role a conlanger plays in the creation of a language.
mp3The Alurhsa WebsiteBoudewijn Rempt’s “Apologia pro Imaginatione”


It’s funny, because right off the bat, I recognized something familiar
in this interview. The first thing was, “Oh, I do remember Alurian!” I didn’t realize that Alurhsa and Alurian (or Aluric) were, in fact, the same thing.

And that leads to the next bit: the problem of naming. As you’ll hear, apparently “Alurian” and “Aluric” were doing fine as names until Tony found that “Alurian”, for example, occurs in a lot of personal names and other contexts (try googling “Alurian” [though note the first hit]). As a result, Tony decided to go with the native name, “Alurhsa”.

First, I’d note that this was bound to happen. If you name a conlang anything that ends in “-ian”, “-ese”, “-ic”, “-ish”, or any other of the very common English suffixes that get attached to real world language names, it’s only a matter of time before someone else comes up with it (with or without a language attached). (After all, if someone’s going to lie on a job application, what sounds more like a language: Aluric or Epiq?)

Second, I have had this happen to me. I created a language I initially called “Kele”, and added a section for it to my website, describing its bric-a-brac and what have you. And that’s how it lived happily for a couple years, I’d say. Then one day I received an appalling e-mail. Not only was there an existing natural language named “Kele”, but apparently someone had mistaken me for an expert on the Kele language, and was asking me questions about it! In fact, if you believe the internet (which is rarely a good idea), there are apparently two Kele languages: one Austronesian, and another Niger-Congo!

Luckily for the person who e-mailed me, I was also a linguistics student, and knew something about language and where one might go for more information. As a direct result of the exchange, though, I changed the name of my language to Kelenala, and thereafter, whenever I decided to name a language, I made liberal use of Google to make sure I wasn’t stepping on anyone’s toes.


Several conlangers listening to this interview might be taken aback
at the level of involvement Tony has with Alurhsa—especially the metaphysical stuff (the possible existence of speakers of Alurhsa in this or some other dimension; the religious aspect; etc.). But before you judge him, I ask you this: how fluent are you in your conlang? I, for example (as has been discussed before), have got the structure of most of my conlangs down, but always seem to be hunting for vocabulary. This is an experience (a condition?) that many conlangers share.

Pragmatically, then, let us consider: Which type of conlang-conlanger relationship seems to be more efficacious in developing fluency in a conlang? We’ve noted that a number of conlangers with an author-creation type of relationship can’t speak their languages, and, just off the top of my head, I can think of a number of other conlangers who have a more metaphysical relationship with their conlangs who speak it quite well.

So. Could the relationship be…causal? In a metaphysical way, perhaps. In a realistic way, it probably simply ensures a level of involvement with one’s language that may (not of necessity, but may) go into greater depth and take up more time than the usual level of involvement a conlanger has with their conlang. And what, after all, leads to fluency but time and involvement?

Audio edited by Virgo Audio Production Services; music by Gary Shannon.

Tags: , ,

3 Responses to “Interview with Tony Harris”

  1. Mia Soderquist Says:

    I really enjoyed this particular interview because I could actually relate to the metaphysical side of things. If your conlanging is intended to be a personal expression of your inner world, or emerging from your inner world, it’s probably inevitable that you feel a spiritual connection to the language you create.

    Perhaps there’s something to be said there about what your goals are– is it about the linguistic tinkering or actually using the language? I think that seeing your project as an abstract or structure that you are playing with like tinker toys puts more distance between the creator and the language than if you’re creating it in order to get to the part where you can create actual written or spoken expression. Or that’s my theory, anyway, since I am one of the latter people; I create languages in order to use them, and nothing makes me happier than seeing or hearing whole thoughts expressed in one of my languages.

    Meh. It becomes clear to me now that I should go write an essay or post to CONLANG or something. I have too much to say. XD

  2. Sai Emrys Says:

    FWIW: If you do want to post an essay, you’d be welcome to do so as a contributor to this blog (as a top level post), so it goes out to everyone. You can of course cross-post elsewhere if you like.

    If you’re interested, just email me a draft and I’ll upgrade your account here.

  3. David Peterson Says:

    Speaking of which, how is your fluency coming in any of your conlangs? And do you have anyone else to converse with?