Migdal

 Tomohiro Nakano/Tormis Narno
Tomohiro Nakano/Tormis Narno

Posted on

So I guess I'm starting Migdal now

I signed up for Migdal basically on a whim, with a few reservations:

  1. I will write in English when posting my own articles, and will not be using Japanese unless there are pressing reasons to do so. When it comes to linguistics and academic writing in general, I have been writing papers in English for many years now, and I just feel more comfortable talking about languages in English than in Japanese.
    However, I welcome comments and replies in Japanese, or any other languages that I can understand (not that there are many).

  2. Not much new about my languages that are works in progress can be revealed, at least for now. In an age where intellectual properties published online get stolen left and right, I cannot just put out information that is unpublished elsewhere onto this website. Also, there are conlang-related projects I am involved in, about which I (quite literally) legally cannot talk about. The issue is further exacerbated for me by the fact that there simply does not exist a way to protect a conlang, since traditionally a language is something that does not belong to one person or entity.
    This non-disclosure rule will not apply for the few languages my rights to which I can sufficiently prove, for example through published materials, TV appearances, mentions by other people on social media, and so on. Namely, the exceptions would be Artíjihàk, (New) Varokerim, Othba'aran, and some fragments of At'ixilin. The list will hopefully soon grow.

  3. Primarily I will be using this platform to reach out to other conlangers and to discuss broader, more far-reaching topics related to conlanging, such as the philosophical implications of artificial tongues. I believe there are some that know me from other platforms, and some that will not welcome me here, but I still wanted to give Migdal a chance, when traditional social media have become so exhausting, and so taxing on one's mind, to the point that they are rarely worth the pain for me anymore.

  4. I will not be able to post regularly here, as much as I wish I could. I have multiple projects on my hands at the moment, and scholarly burdens on my shoulders get heavier by the year. I still do not know to what extent I will find this website suited to my needs, and you may see me disappear from time to time. If under some circumstances you wish to contact me, please kindly reach out to my Twitter account (I still cannot promise a fast reply in that case).

  5. Because of all the reasons listed above, my posts will inevitably be fragmentary.

To be quite honest, I have no plans as to what to write about next, but it is probable that it would be related to my conworld Firraksnarre in one way or another.

Top comments (5)

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a_i profile image
A.I.

Thank you for joining us! We are aiming to be a multilingual portal of conlangers, although as you see the UI language support still has a long way to go after a year of development (due to the base software restrictions). I will try hard nevertheless to make this site navigable without language barriers as soon as possible, but in the meantime you can test out our English UI on migdal.jp/:en-US/. All suggestions are welcome!

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tormisnarno profile image
Tomohiro Nakano/Tormis Narno

I appreciate your warm welcome and your support for English-speaking users (not that I truly am one). The fact that you are looking to make the site multilingual is great news because I personally know a handful of conlangers who would join if that can happen. I will take a look at the alternative UI. Cheers.

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a_i profile image
A.I.

Thank you for your encouraging comment. I guess problems are around every corner on the non-default language UI at the moment, so your patience will be very much appreciated...

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bertia_arbarigmirok profile image
ベルティア

よう読まれん

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tormisnarno profile image
Tomohiro Nakano/Tormis Narno

たしかにちょっと長くなってしまいましたね。