Notes

My interest in rational conlangs has been revived. The specific catalyst is that I am trying to translate a book that I absolutely love, The Book of Matan, into one. One reason for this choice of book is that its English is very simple and readable. It does not use a vocabulary that is too obscure. But it carries an emotional, poetic beauty that reminds of me of the King James Bible. If any language should translate well into a rational conlang, I would hope it was of this kind. Another reason is that it is a logical extension of my interest in the book. It is a catalyst for me to read the book more than I otherwise would be inclined to do. It is like when, as a teenager, I would try translating The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy into a conlang. I had already read and loved the book. Translating it became an exercise in looking at it from a fresh perspective. The best conlang to me was Rick Morneau’s concept of a machine translation interlingua. To me it captured what I most