tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6971845846119846762024-03-05T21:58:48.811-05:00Tutorials on EverythingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-8476992776502762082011-10-13T00:05:00.000-04:002011-10-13T00:05:35.162-04:00A Guide to Basic Colour Theory<ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/05/001-basic-colour-theory-colour-wheels.html">001 Colour Wheels</a></li><i> - Colour scheme, colour wheels, how to use a colour wheel, scientific colour theory vs. artistic colour theory</i>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/05/002-basic-colour-theory-vocabulary.html">002 Vocabulary</a></li><i> - Hue, saturation, neutral colours, value - HSV vs. HSL, tint & shade (tones), warm & cool colours (colour temperature), relativity</i>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/05/003-basic-colour-theory-types-of.html">003 Types of Colours</a></li><i> - Primary colours, secondary colours, tertiary colours, in-between colour names</i>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/05/004-basic-colour-theory-colour-schemes.html">004 Colour Schemes with the Colour Wheel</a></li><i> - Complementary colours, analogous colours, split complementary colours, split analogous colours, monochromatic colour scheme, triadic colour scheme, tetradic or quadratic colour scheme</i>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/05/005-basic-colour-theory-colours-and.html">005 Colours and Their Associations</a></li><i> - Red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue-green (teal/turquoise), indigo (blue-purple/blue-violet), purple (violet), black, white, grey</i>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-27143729662855315812011-09-21T22:21:00.001-04:002011-09-21T23:00:13.441-04:00Language: Japanese<ul><li><a href="http://www.flashcardmachine.com/p/japkana001">Hiragana and Katakana (reading)</a> - <i>Short description, easy-to-read <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ai-momo/6170688207/" target="new">hiragana</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ai-momo/6171221568/" target="new">katakana</a> charts, and flash cards to help you study.</i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.flashcardmachine.com/p/japcount001">Counting</a> - <i>Learn how to count in Japanese; use flash cards to help memorisation.</i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.flashcardmachine.com/p/japvocab001">Basic vocabulary</a> - <i>Learn basic vocabulary using flashcards.</i></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-67825960736264246712011-08-24T06:09:00.002-04:002011-08-24T06:25:48.670-04:00A Guide to Basic Visual Composition: DinosaursWhen a dinosaur is in an image, it doesn't matter if the composition is good or bad because the picture is going to be epic regardless; however, if you want your image to be so incredibly epic it's hardly comprehensible, you may want to boggle your mind with the images below -- if you can handle its awesomeness:<br />
<br />
<img alt="dinosaur rainbow colour color colourful colorful composition rule of thirds rule of odds flow epic" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6072/6076122938_89122edf14_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<img alt="dinosaur rainbow colour color colourful colorful composition rule of thirds rule of odds flow epic" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6074/6076122962_94ac443300_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<img alt="dinosaur rainbow colour color colourful colorful composition rule of thirds rule of odds flow epic" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6070/6075587105_2a39e84277_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<img alt="dinosaur rainbow colour color colourful colorful composition rule of thirds rule of odds flow epic" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6071/6075587157_115b3eef4a_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<hr><ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-flow.html">Flow</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule.html">The Rule of Thirds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule_24.html">The Rule of Odds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-visual-composition-rule-of.html">The Rule of Space</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_24.html">Other helpful information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_8965.html">Dinosaurs</a></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-46683590697666745982011-08-24T06:04:00.001-04:002011-08-24T06:15:37.482-04:00A Guide to Basic Visual Composition: Helpful Information<b>Simplify</b><br />
<br />
By simplifying your image, it's much easier for the viewer to focus on the items which are supposed to be focused on. The background in the image below is simply texture so the viewer focuses on the sailor girl and anchor:<br />
<br />
<img alt="sailor girl woman female stripes striped stripped cute kawaii nautical anchor aceo atc art card simplify simple composition art" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6206/6076212288_7984065d15_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<b>Blur</b><br />
<br />
By blurring out those objects which are unimportant or are located in the background or foreground of the image, more attention is brought to the focal points. The hair is blurred out in the image below to bring focus to the face:<br />
<br />
<img alt="female woman girl black and white pencil sketch graphite lead blue blurring" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6078/6076123232_452b207e4d_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<b>Frame</b><br />
<br />
By framing your image, you can bring the focus to the important elements. The trees frame the image below:<br />
<br />
<img alt="landscape skyscape mountains trees sun moon red blue purple black shooting falling star frame framing" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6201/6076128814_08bcd2098e_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<hr><ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-flow.html">Flow</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule.html">The Rule of Thirds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule_24.html">The Rule of Odds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-visual-composition-rule-of.html">The Rule of Space</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_24.html">Other helpful information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_8965.html">Dinosaurs</a></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-74366141246169777622011-08-24T05:53:00.007-04:002011-08-24T06:24:02.145-04:00Guide to Basic Visual Composition: The Rule of SpaceThe Rule of Space says that an object in motion <strike>will remain in motion unless acted on by an outside force</strike> should have more space in the direction it is moving than behind.<br />
<br />
EXAMPLES:<br />
<br />
The image below can be taken two ways: Either Sailor Moon has more space behind her (where her hair is) because she was moving forward, but stopped to move backwards a little, or she is moving forward and her hair counts as part of her.<br />
<br />
<img alt="sailor moon serena tsukino usagi rule of space motion movement aceo atc art card" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6077/6075587265_0ac98499a0_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
This next one has a bit more space in front than behind. It is also more noticeable because 6DEBA casts a shadow and because of the perspective and hill.<br />
<br />
<img alt="robot 6deba walking aceo atc art card rule of space movement motion" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6078/6076123158_438b200d73_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
The next one is pretty much straight forward.<br />
<br />
<img alt="magical humpback whale rule of space movement motion" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/6076123174_9ee8c59880_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<hr><ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-flow.html">Flow</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule.html">The Rule of Thirds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule_24.html">The Rule of Odds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-visual-composition-rule-of.html">The Rule of Space</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_24.html">Other helpful information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_8965.html">Dinosaurs</a></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-21351909710321889582011-08-24T05:41:00.001-04:002011-08-24T06:15:17.447-04:00A Guide to Basic Visual Composition: The Rule of OddsThe Rule of Odds says that an image should have an odd number of focal points or an even number of sub-focal points along with the main focal point. This is because, in general, people like to see an odd number of things (notice the Rule of Thirds, rather than the Rule of Halves or the Rule of Fourths).<br />
<br />
EXAMPLES:<br />
<br />
In the image below, Alice is the main focal point, and her side-kicks are the scepter and the frog. Incidentally, the background also has three main elements: The brick wall, the wooden door, and the ground.<br />
<br />
<img alt="queen alice through the looking-glass scepter frog brick wood door ground rule of odds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6067/6076122732_9d91e80f70_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
In the Martial landscape image created for the Rule of Thirds, there are three points of focus: The <i>three</i> rocks on the left, the <i>one</i> rock on the right, and the <i>three</i> strange black dust lines (tree-like structures) (which equals <i>seven</i>). There are also three levels of sand dunes, and the image is split into three main parts because of the two more obvious sand hills.<br />
<br />
<img alt="mars martian landscape sandstorm rule of odds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6074/6076123082_94847314eb_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<br />
<hr><ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-flow.html">Flow</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule.html">The Rule of Thirds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule_24.html">The Rule of Odds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-visual-composition-rule-of.html">The Rule of Space</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_24.html">Other helpful information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_8965.html">Dinosaurs</a></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-21833911377577822462011-08-24T05:30:00.003-04:002011-08-24T06:19:35.137-04:00A Guide to Basic Visual Composition: The Rule of ThirdsThe Rule of Thirds says that when you divide the image horizontally by thirds<br />
<br />
<img alt="horizontal rule of thirds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6185/6075587165_9483035704_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
and vertically by thirds<br />
<br />
<img alt="vertical rule of thirds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6089/6075587177_589a861e50_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
you should place elements on or near the lines or intersecting points.<br />
<br />
<img alt="intersect rule of thirds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6206/6076123032_92b2dcd108_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
For example, if you have a horizon line, it should be placed on or around one of the lines located at a third of the image.<br />
<br />
EXAMPLES:<br />
<br />
I made a quick example of a cliché sunset to demonstrate the use of the lower horizontal line:<br />
<br />
<img alt="sunset sunrise horizontal rule of thirds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6201/6076123042_e36f9973f6_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<img alt="sunset sunrise horizontal rule of thirds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6081/6076123056_8b7eec39f0_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
Another quick image of a Martial landscape:<br />
<br />
<img alt="mars martial landscape dust storm rule of thirds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6074/6076123082_94847314eb_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<img alt="mars martial landscape dust storm rule of thirds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6072/6075587233_dd0087b2e2_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
The Alice image in the previous section is also a good example of the Rule of Thirds:<br />
<br />
<img alt="alice though the looking-glass scepter frog rule of thirds" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6190/6075586879_0b62736004_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<br />
<hr><ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-flow.html">Flow</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule.html">The Rule of Thirds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule_24.html">The Rule of Odds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-visual-composition-rule-of.html">The Rule of Space</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_24.html">Other helpful information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_8965.html">Dinosaurs</a></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-47030538865474789542011-08-24T05:18:00.006-04:002011-08-24T06:18:12.295-04:00A Guide to Basic Visual Composition: FlowFlow is pretty much what it sounds like: How smoothly your eyes travel from one thing to the next. Elements in the picture will subtly direct your eyes in a certain direction. (NOTE: I don't know if there is an official name for this.)<br />
<br />
EXAMPLES:<br />
<br />
If you pick a spot on the picture below, you can probably see how it flows. There are two examples below of how things connect: One is a geometric shape, showing continuity, the other is a flowing line from one point to another. By <a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6202/6076123122_3d4c9e6db6_o.jpg" target="new">combining the two</a>, you can see how there is a continuous flow throughout the picture.<br />
<br />
<img alt="alice through the looking-glass composition flow art drawing painting digital traditional guide tutorial" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6067/6076122732_9d91e80f70_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<img alt="alice through the looking-glass composition flow art drawing painting digital traditional guide tutorial" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6210/6075586971_a82d88e396_o.jpg"><br />
NOTE: You can even skip the frog, and go from her face to the bottom of the scepter and then up, creating a triangle.<br />
<br />
<img alt="alice through the looking-glass composition flow art drawing painting digital traditional guide tutorial" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6078/6076122872_c259b5601c_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
NOTE: The flow of this image was actually inspired by the Fibonacci and Golden Spirals. <a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6208/6076122770_7f330c680a_o.jpg" target="new">Ex1</a>, <a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6090/6076122806_4ae298e7f8_o.jpg" target="new">Ex2</a>.<br />
<br />
<hr><ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-flow.html">Flow</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule.html">The Rule of Thirds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule_24.html">The Rule of Odds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-visual-composition-rule-of.html">The Rule of Space</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_24.html">Other helpful information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_8965.html">Dinosaurs</a></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-60705438464791769622011-08-24T05:14:00.004-04:002011-08-24T06:11:28.324-04:00A Guide to Basic Visual CompositionComposition is basically how something is put together. In terms of 2D visual arts, the composition is how the elements in the picture are set up, or the page layout.<br />
<br />
Please note that composition can be created with any elements in an image: Lines, colours, shadows, negative space, etc.<br />
<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-flow.html">Flow</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule.html">The Rule of Thirds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition-rule_24.html">The Rule of Odds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-visual-composition-rule-of.html">The Rule of Space</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_24.html">Other helpful information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/guide-to-basic-visual-composition_8965.html">Dinosaurs</a></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-84699790064871497062011-07-04T21:53:00.000-04:002011-07-04T21:53:57.622-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Combination Alphabet MethodThis is a method I used to create one of my conscripts. It was inspired by Hangul (Korean). I used all 26 letters from the English alphabet, then did 0 - 9, and some punctuation. That came to more than 777 letters and characters that I had to make up for it, so, unless you're up to that, I recommend you choose fewer letters to use.<br />
<br />
<b>ONE: PICK THE LETTERS AND/OR SOUNDS YOU ARE GOING TO USE</b><br />
<br />
For this example, I will only be using vowels, but you'll want to use all or some of the letters/sounds from your own conlang.<br />
<br />
<b>TWO: MAKE A LETTER FOR EACH OF YOUR SOUNDS/LETTERS</b><br />
<br />
Pretty straight-forward. This is just like in <b><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-writing.html">Alphabetic and Phonetic</a></b>.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6052/5903553166_fc1eba8ccd_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<b>THREE: MAKE COMBINATION LETTERS</b><br />
<br />
Make a chart with your letters going across the top, and across the bottom.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6047/5902994839_a5765039e9_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
And then fill in the empty spaces so that there are letters that represent the combined letters. For example, the first empty box will be for <i>AA</i>, the second (going across) will be <i>EA</i>, then <i>IA</i>, etc. The second row starts with <i>AE</i>, <i>EE</i>, <i>IE</i>, etc.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5317/5902994889_f6736e2b63_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
And that's it! You can do punctuation and stuff if you want to too.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5196/5902994901_6afccfcfbd_o.jpg">Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-78573070914248664472011-07-04T19:41:00.004-04:002011-07-04T21:54:57.584-04:00A Guide to Constructed LanguagesThis is a guide to constructed languages. Where would you like to go?<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages.html">INTRODUCTION</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>The introduction will cover some basic questions about conlanging:<br />
<ul><li>What is a constructed language or conlang?</li>
<li>What is a constructed script or a conscript?</li>
<li>Who can conlang? Examples?</li>
<li>Why do people conlang?</li>
</ul></i><br />
<b>INFORMATION TO HELP YOU CONSTRUCT A LANGUAGE</b><br />
<br />
<i>In each section, I try to include information, options, and exercises or questions to ask yourself in order for you to create a constructed language. It is up to you as a reader to choose whether you would like to make a simple or more complex language.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Writing systems:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-writing.html">Alphabetic and Phonetic</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-writing_04.html">Ideographic --> Pictographic</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-writing_2470.html">Logographic</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-writing_5726.html">Direction</a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writing_systems" target="new">Wikipedia list of writing systems</a></li>
</ul><br />
<b>Rules and grammar:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-rules.html">Sentence order</a> <i>- Subject-object-verb, subject-verb-object, and others.</i></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-rules_04.html">Other considerations</a> <i>- includes particles, possessive, masculine and feminine, politeness, pluralisation, definite and indefinite articles, negatives, and creating for a fictional world.</i></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-rules_3012.html">Tense</a> <i>- Past, present, and future.</i></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-rules_8777.html">Kinds of words</a> <i>- Nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.</i></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-finale.html">Create your words</a></li>
</ul><br />
<b>Other:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-language.html">The language game method</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages_3291.html">Combination alphabet method</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-rules_1622.html">Questions you might ask yourself</a></li>
</ul><br />
<b>LINKS</b><br />
<br />
<i>Here are some external links that have not been linked elsewhere, which you may find interesting or helpful.</i><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.omniglot.com/" target="new">Omniglot</a> <i>- An amazing website for writing systems and some information. Also includes conscripts.</i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwYxHPXIaao" target="new">A TED Talk on the un-deciphered Indus script</a> <i>- A very interesting YouTube video talking about the Indus script and basic methods that help translation.</i></li>
<li><a href="http://conlang.org/" target="new">Language Creation Society</a> <i>- A website for conlangs. A fee to sign up and use the service.</i></li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-50761411797808465812011-07-04T19:40:00.003-04:002011-07-04T20:21:37.853-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Language Game MethodThis method is what I call the <i>language game method, substitution method,</i> or <i>piggy back method</i>. Basically, what you do is create a language based on another language. You make rules on how to change the first language to create the second language. I will provide steps below. You can make this really complicated or really simple.<br />
<br />
<b>ONE: CHOOSE LETTERS OR SOUNDS AND CREATE AN ALPHABET</b><br />
<br />
This is just what it says. If you go to the section <b><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-writing.html">Alphabetic and Phonetic</a></b> and scroll down to 'exercise', it will give you a step-by-step on how to do this.<br />
<br />
<b>TWO: MAKE RULES FOR YOUR LANGUAGE</b><br />
<br />
What word order do you want? How do you want your adverbs to work? Should adjectives come before or after nouns? Etc. If you want to create something really simple, you'll either change your first language so it is simple or keep the first language exactly as it is and only create new words.<br />
<br />
Using English as an example, I could say I want 'I' to be <i>nen</i>, and then I want possessive to be the particle <i>dou</i>; I don't want 'my' or 'mine', instead I want <i>nen dou</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>THREE: MAKE RULES FOR SUBSTITUTION</b><br />
<br />
The sounds or letters you picked will together be known as 'letters'. <br />
<br />
This bit is where you are going to make rules for how you will create your new words. The most commonly used method has been flipping words backwards: <i>Ho ym Suratrat!</i> Or flipping sentences backwards: <i>Suratrat ym ho!</i> (Used in <i>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</i> on the Mirror of Erised.)<br />
<br />
Most conlangers wouldn't do that though. For a language game you can switch letters around, and this is very easy. All you do is create a chart for which letters in your first language will become the letters in your second language. This is actually a kind of cypher as well.<br />
<br />
I usually split it up by vowels and consonants, because, if you interchange them, you'll probably end up with too many consonants and words will be difficult to say. This would not be a probably for languages such as Japanese, as Japanese letters are either one vowel, a consonant and a vowel, or a consonant and two vowels, -- the exception being <i>n</i>, which is the only single consonant in the whole alphabet.<br />
<br />
So, vowels:<br />
<ul><li>A --> E</li>
<li>E --> I</li>
<li>I --> O</li>
<li>O --> U</li>
<li>U --> A</li>
</ul>Consonants:<br />
<ul><li>B --> D</li>
<li>C --> S or K</li>
<li>D --> B</li>
<li>F --> G</li>
<li>G --> H</li>
<li>H --> J</li>
<li>J --> K</li>
<li>K --> K</li>
<li>L --> L</li>
<li>M --> N</li>
<li>N --> M</li>
<li>P --> R</li>
<li>R --> P</li>
<li>S --> S</li>
<li>T --> T</li>
<li>V --> V</li>
<li>W --> U</li>
<li>X --> KS</li>
<li>Y --> I</li>
<li>Z --> S</li>
</ul><br />
That's the substitution part done. You can use sounds not native to your first language too, but I'll keep it fairly simple here.<br />
<br />
If I were to just use that system to create words, I could say 'Hello! How are you?' becomes <i>Jillu! Juu epi iua?</i><br />
<br />
But how about I change it a bit? How about when two consonants are next to each other (<i>mm, nn, pp, ll; etc.</i>), the second consonant becomes an <i>a</i>. And <i>j</i> can never start a word, so any <i>j</i> at the beginning of the word (which was originally an <i>h</i>) will become a <i>v</i>. So, then it comes <i>Vilao! Vuu epi iua?</i><br />
<br />
If you had originally decided you wanted an SOV language, you would have it <i>Vuu iua epi?</i> Then maybe you would want the particle <i>nar</i> between two words that end/begin with a vowel to make things easier to say clearly: <i>Vuu iua nar epi?</i><br />
<br />
<b>FOUR: CREATE WORDS</b><br />
<br />
This is where you create words using the rules you make. It's easiest if you translate sentences to make sure everything sounds right and works out okay and agrees.<br />
<br />
Since you're probably creating so many words, it's easiest if you make different categories you will translate in: So, one time you will translate words for greetings, then words for family, then words for numbers and colours, etc.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-54916367400441186222011-07-04T19:40:00.001-04:002011-07-04T19:40:28.340-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Rules & Grammar: Parts of SpeechThere are a variety of different kinds of words used in a sentence. Below, I briefly discuss the traditional eight parts of speech.<br />
<br />
<b>NOUNS</b><br />
<br />
Nouns are most commonly described as 'a person, place, or thing.' They can be counted, such as 'one cat' or 'a mouse', and sometimes use 'the', like in 'the book' or 'the pencils'. They are used for subject and object.<br />
<br />
Proper nouns, in English, are capitalised, and they are names of things.<br />
<ul><li>The <u>cat</u> went <u>home</u>;</li>
<li>my <u>mother</u> told <u>Amelia</u>;</li>
<li><u>Jeff</u> ran to the <u>store</u>; etc.</li>
</ul><br />
<b>PRONOUNS</b><br />
<br />
Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns, such as <i>I, you, she, he, it,</i> or <i>they</i>.<br />
<ul><li><u>I</u> went shopping yesterday;</li>
<li><u>I</u> told <u>you it</u> was <u>her</u>!</li>
<li><u>You</u> can come too;</li>
<li><u>We</u> plan to play basketball;</li>
<li><u>They</u> aren't very nice; etc;</li>
</ul><br />
<b>VERB</b><br />
<br />
A verb is an action word and is often what is changed to show tense:<br />
<ul><li>The person <u>is</u> running;</li>
<li>Those blueberries <u>are</u> delicious;</li>
<li>I <u>ran</u> to the store;</li>
<li>It <u>does</u> that all the time; etc.</li>
</ul><br />
There are some verbs called <i>auxiliary verbs</i>, which goes before or after other words. Dictionary.com puts it this way: 'a word used in construction with and preceding certain forms of other verbs, as infinitives or participles, to express distinctions of tense, aspect, mood, etc.'<br />
<ul><li>She <u>will</u> run to the store;</li>
<li>He <u>did</u> go to the park already;</li>
<li>I <u>was</u> going, but I stopped; etc.</li>
</ul><br />
<b>ADJECTIVES</b><br />
<br />
Adjectives are words that describe nouns, such as size or colour. In English, they go before the noun they're describing, but, in some other languages, they come after. In French, some go before (size) and some go after (colour), so you would say, '<i>le petit chat noir</i>,' (le = the; petit = small; chat = cat; noir = black), whereas, in English, we would say 'the small black cat.'<br />
<br />
As another note for English, there is actually a specific order adjectives are to be used in:<br />
<ol><li>Opinion/judgement - pretty, ugly, fast, easy, repugnant; etc.</li>
<li>Size - Big, small, tall, short, fat, skinny; etc.</li>
<li>Age - Old, young, new, ancient; etc.</li>
<li>Shape - Round, triangular, rectangular; etc.</li>
<li>Colour - Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet; etc.</li>
<li>Origin/nationality - American, French, Japanese, Asian, African, Egyptian, Kenyan; etc.</li>
<li>Material - Wood, marble, plastic, glass; etc.</li>
<li>Purpose/qualifier (what it does) - fishing [boat, gear, etc.], fold-out [mattress, couch, etc.], writing [utensil, paper, etc.]; etc.</li>
</ol>So, you might say a 'beautiful small antique round bronze Mayan stone writing tablet.' It's unlikely adjectives will be used all in one, but, if you do, there is a specific order. Though, it's not always followed; sometimes we say things that sound better, such as 'big ugly fool' or similar; you could argue this isn't technically incorrect, however, as 'big' could be considered a matter of opinion.<br />
<br />
Note: You don't need commas between each group, but if there is more than one word from each group, then you use a comma, or you can add 'and': <i>Big, ugly fool; pretty blue and red stone; silly, repugnant old man; etc.</i><br />
<br />
<b>ADVERBS</b><br />
<br />
Adverbs are used to describes verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, and, in English, usually end in <i>-ly</i>.<br />
<ul><li>Walked <u>slowly</u>;</li>
<li>Talked <u>quickly</u> and <u>clearly</u>;</li>
<li><u>Slightly</u> small book;</li>
<li><u>Overly</u> tall person; etc.</li>
</ul><br />
<b>PREPOSITION</b><br />
<br />
Prepositions are usually small words that connect the subject and the object, such as <i>in, on, beneath, without,</i> or <i>after</i>. It is described <a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/preposit.html#preposition" target="new">here</a> as, 'usually indicat[ing] the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence...'<br />
<ul><li>Those people are <u>behind</u> the building;</li>
<li>The cat is <u>on</u> the chair;</li>
<li>The mouse is <u>under</u> the table;</li>
<li>The monkey is <u>on</u> the branch;</li>
<li>I would die <u>without</u> you;</li>
<li>He went <u>after</u> she did; etc</li>
</ul><br />
<b>CONJUNCTION</b><br />
<br />
Coordinating conjunctions are used to join words, phrases, or independent clauses (<i>and, but, or, nor, so, yet; etc.</i>), and 'subordinating conjunction[s] [introduce] a dependent clause and [indicate] the nature of the relationship among the independent clause(s) and the dependent clause(s)' (<a href="http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/conjunct.html#conjunction" target="new">here</a>) (<i>after, although, as, because, if, though; etc.</i>).<br />
<ul><li>Nature <u>and</u> technology can co-exist;</li>
<li><u>After</u> the earthquake, everyone was okay;</li>
<li><u>If</u> it wasn't Bill, it was Bob; etc.</li>
</ul><br />
<b>INTERJECTION</b><br />
<br />
Interjections are words that are often exclamations, such as <i>ouch, ha, hah, alas,</i> or <i>hey</i>.<br />
<ul><li><u>Hey</u>! Are you going to the party tonight?</li>
<li>He would have, but, -- <u>alas</u>! -- he did not;</li>
<li><u>Hah</u>! I won!</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
<hr><hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
How might you take these into consideration?<br />
<br />
Is adjusting verbs the best way to show tense, or is there another, better method? Could you use particles?<br />
<br />
Why do you think there are irregular verbs? Do they serve some sort of purpose? Would you want irregular verbs in your conlang?<br />
<br />
Do you think changing the ending of a word to show what it is is necessary, such as with adverbs? Why or why not?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-47055063666104879922011-07-04T19:39:00.004-04:002011-07-04T20:21:06.288-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Finale: Create Your WordsThis is the part that people either really love or really hate: Create your words and compile your dictionary.<br />
<br />
Depending on what you're doing, you might come up with a different method for creating words. You can<br />
<ul><li>Go by what sounds right;</li>
<li>Create a game, such as picking letters from a hat, create an algorithm for generating letters, toss a coin or coins on a matte of letters, &c.;</li>
<li>Base your language on another language (maybe it will be a Romance language);</li>
<li>Use the <a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/guide-to-constructed-languages-language.html">language game method</a>;</li>
</ul>...or whatever else you can think of. The easiest way to begin creating words is by translating sentences into your language. I usually use common phrases and translate common words. So, some sort of greeting and inquiry of health, as well as pronouns. I also <i>really</i> like having words for 'yes' and 'no', so they're words I come up with fairly quickly as well. (Some languages don't have words that exactly equate 'yes' and 'no', such as Mandarin.)<br />
<br />
You don't have to do it all at once; you're probably going to create a lot of words, unless your language is really simple.<br />
<br />
It's helpful to have sets of words, such as your pronouns, your greetings, your colours, your numbers, your months and days of the week, labels for a human body, various terms used for family members, etc.<br />
<br />
At this point, you may find that there are inconsistencies, things you don't like, or some other things you may want to change. Feel free to change them. This is where you really get to see what's working and what isn't.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-59085178793815956532011-07-04T19:39:00.002-04:002011-07-04T19:39:43.980-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Questions You Might Ask Yourself<ul><li>Why are you creating this language?</li>
<li>Is there a specific way you want to organise your language, or a particular aim you have?</li>
<li>How do you want your language to compare to other languages?</li>
<li>What order do you want your language in? (SVO, SOV, &c.)</li>
<li>Do you want to use particles?</li>
<li>How will you make words possessive?</li>
<li>Will you have masculine and feminine words?</li>
<li>Will there be regular levels of politeness?</li>
<li>Will things be pluralised? How?</li>
<li>Do you want to include irregular words/verbs?</li>
<li>Do you want to create archaic words?</li>
<li>Do you want to aim for a specific set of distinctions in vocabulary? (values)</li>
<li>How do you want to create tense, if at all?</li>
</ul>The more you study other languages, the more you'll begin asking yourself new questions when creating a conlang. You don't need to know how to speak other languages, but you can study how they're constructed.<br />
<ul><li>How do they compare to your own first language?</li>
<li>How do they compare to others?</li>
<li>What do you like about your language?</li>
<li>What do you dislike?</li>
<li>What do you like or dislike about other languages?</li>
<li>What changes might improve a language?</li>
<li>What slight change might completely destroy a language?</li>
<li>How do the languages compare to the people that speak them?</li>
<li>What values do the languages seem to display?</li>
<li>What's the history of the language?</li>
<li>How complex is the language?</li>
<li>How orderly?</li>
<li>How vague?</li>
<li>How much understanding or meaning depends on intonation?</li>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-53943779425608066332011-07-04T19:39:00.000-04:002011-07-04T19:39:08.565-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Rules & Grammar: TenseYou're probably familiar with the terms <i>past, present,</i> and <i>future</i>. But how do you want to make words in your own language represent the past, the present, or the future?<br />
<br />
<b>PAST</b><br />
<br />
In English, the past is represented in a number of ways, but it is most commonly said that <i>-ed</i> and <i>-t</i> are added to the end of verbs:<blockquote><i>Some examples:</i><br />
<br />
-ED: Spilled, passed, marched, narrowed; harrowed<br />
<br />
-T: Dreamt, slept, spilt, past, swept, wept; kept</blockquote><br />
There are a number of irregular verbs, too, such as <i>drew, drank/drunk, gone/went, ate, bought,</i> and <i>fought</i>.<br />
<br />
You can also take into consideration such variations as, 'I bought a flower' and 'I had bought a flower,' or 'I used to go' and 'I regularly went,' etc. You can read more about past tense <a href="http://www.englishtenseswithcartoons.com/past_tenses" target="new">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>PRESENT</b><br />
<br />
Most commonly recognised as having an <i>-ing</i> ending in English, such as <i>kayaking, hiking, spelling, nursing, joking, laughing,</i> and <i>dancing</i>. You can read more about present tense <a href="http://www.englishtenseswithcartoons.com/present_tenses" target="new">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>FUTURE</b><br />
<br />
In English, future tense usually uses <i>will</i>. You can read more about future tense <a href="http://www.englishtenseswithcartoons.com/future_tenses" target="new">here</a>.<blockquote><i>Some examples:</i><br />
<ul><li>I will go to the ball.</li>
<li>I will call my brother.</li>
<li>He will sweep later.</li>
<li>I will be home tomorrow.</li>
<li>She will be performing next week.</li>
<li>They will be invited too.</li>
<li>I will have finished the course by then.</li>
<li>She will have finished eating.</li>
<li>Tomorrow, I will have been going to class every Tuesday for a year.</li>
</ul><i>Other examples:</i><br />
<ul><li>I will/shall go</li>
<li>I'm going to go / I am going to go</li>
<li>I'm to go / I am to go</li>
<li>I'm about to go / I am about to go</li>
<li>I must go</li>
<li>I should go</li>
<li>I can go</li>
<li>I may go</li>
<li>I might go</li>
</ul>(From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_tense" target="new">Wikipedia</a>.)</blockquote><br />
Though above I have described briefly methods of creating past, present, and future used in the English language, there are other possibilities as well. Some languages combine past and present into one (ex. Japanese).<br />
<br />
If we were to change English into a language that used particles to indicate tense, what do you think it would look like?<br />
<br />
To indicate the past, would could use the particle <i>pa</i>, for the present, we could use <i>pre</i>, and for the future we could have <i>fu</i>:<br />
<br />
'I went' or 'I did go' might be <i>I go pa</i>. 'I am going' might be <i>I go pre</i>. And 'I will go' might be <i>I go fu</i>.<br />
<br />
Perhaps, instead of changing verbs to show tense, we could use different words to indicate, something like particles, except a little more explanatory:<blockquote><i>Examples:</i><br />
<br />
<b>Past</b><br />
<br />
I go already.<br />
I go did.<br />
I go past.<br />
I go before.<br />
<br />
<b>Present</b><br />
I go already.<br />
I go now.<br />
I go currently.<br />
I go presently.<br />
<br />
<b>Future</b><br />
I go tomorrow.<br />
I go future.<br />
I go soon.<br />
I go will.</blockquote><hr><hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
Is tense important? Why or why not?<br />
<br />
How else could you create tense?<br />
<br />
Does English have a good system for creating past, present, and future tense? Why or why not? Any suggestions?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-69684334395673389102011-07-04T19:38:00.002-04:002011-07-04T19:38:44.784-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Rules & Grammar: Other ConsiderationsThere are many complexities to languages. Here are some things you may want to consider while constructing your language:<br />
<ul><li><b>PARTICLES</b> - Particles are like small words that are not used on their own. The most popular language to use particles is probably Japanese. Particles can be used to show a word is the subject, object, or verb, or to show excitement or in place of a question mark. In Japanese, almost any sentence can be turned into a question my adding <i>ka</i> at the end. In English, that would be like, 'You are well ka?' meaning 'Are you well?' or 'The house is blue ka?' for "Is the house blue?'</li>
<li><b>POSSESSIVE</b> - Possessive means showing ownership. In English, excluding pronouns, possessive is shown by adding apostrophe-s (<i>'s</i>). In other languages, however, possessive is shown differently. In French and Spanish, 'of' is used, so 'Naoko's dog' in French would be '<i>Le chien <u>de</u> Naoko</i>' and in Spanish would be '<i>Perro <u>de</u> Naoko</i>'. Japanese has a similar system, a mix between French/Spanish and English. It uses a particle (<i>no</i>) and is used like this: <i>Naoko <u>no</u> inu</i>.</li>
<li><b>MASCULINE AND FEMININE</b> - There are two ways M&F are used. The first way has masculine, feminine, and neutral forms of a word, and the words in a sentence must agree with each other, regardless of the speaker (ex. French). The second way is to have words that are considered more masculine or feminine or neutral; they are used to show the speaker as more masculine or feminine, and don't need to agree with other word genders in the sentence (ex. Japanese).</li>
<li><b>POLITENESS</b> - Some cultures are big on politeness. Again, Japanese is a really good example. In Japanese, many words have a polite and casual form, some more masculine and some more feminine forms. And, of course, there are rude versions too. <i>Watashi</i> is the polite form of the word 'I'. Though it is used fairly regularly, there are other words that can be used in its place for more casual circumstances, such as <i>atashi</i>, which is a feminine way of saying it.</li>
<li><b>PLURALISATION</b> - In English, we usually add <i>-s</i> or <i>-es</i> to words to denote pluralisation. In French, a similar system is used, except other words in the sentence need to become plural too (agreement again). Example: '<i>Les chats sont mignons,</i>' versus '<i>Le chat est mignon.</i>' Some languages don't use pluralisation at all. In Japanese, words do not change if they are plural. <i>Neko</i> could mean 'cat' or 'cats'. They do, however, have things called <i>counting words</i>, which are used to indicate how many there are of something. There are a number of counting words, some for inanimate objects, others for living things, etc.</li>
<li><b>DEFINITE & INDEFINITE ARTICLES</b> - <i>The, a,</i> and <i>an</i> are examples. <i>The</i> is definite, and <i>a</i> and <i>an</i> are indefinite. Some languages don't use these, and some languages make them a requirement for things all the time. If you do use them, how do you want them to be? In English, we have <i>a</i> to be put in front of consonant sounds (<i>a rabbit, a humanbeing, a historical event, a piece of toast, a unicorn, a herb (when </i>h<i> is said), etc.</i>) and <i>an</i> is use in front of vowel sounds (<i>an ox, an axe, an octopus, an unfinished project, an herb (when </i>h<i> is silent), an indicator, an extraction, etc.</i>). This is to make speaking flow. If we said 'a octopus,' it doesn't flow because of the two vowel sounds, so, by adding <i>n</i>, we can speak with more fluidity. Sometimes different accents or dialects add or subtract letters to make speech flow. You could take this into consideration with other things, too, when creating your language.</li>
<li><b>NEGATIVE</b> - There are a lot of ways negatives can be denoted. In English, we usually use <i>no, not, non-,</i> or <i>none</i> (<i>There is not any bread; there are no wild cats around here; there are none; that is not important; that is a nonissue; etc.</i>). In French, negatives use <i>ne pas</i> or <i>n' pas</i>, and the verb goes between <i>ne</i> and <i>pas</i> (<i>Je n'ai pas le canif; je ne suis pas un poisson; je n'aime pas les animaux; etc.</i>). How might your language make things negative?</li>
</ul><br />
If you are creating a language for a fictional world ('constructed world' or 'conworld'), you may want to consider the history and the people of the language.<br />
<br />
Many languages have irregular forms of words; you'll particularly hear 'irregular verbs'. This just means that these words don't follow the normal way to make the verb tenses. In English, some examples are <i>to be</i>, <i>to go</i>, <i>to do</i>, <i>to eat</i>, and <i>to drink</i>.<br />
<br />
You could even create words that would be archaic in your world, or histories of words or phrases. Did they come from those archaic words? Did they come from another language? Did they evolve from a different way of saying something, perhaps something that was more sensible?<br />
<br />
Something else you might take into consideration are the values of the people. If these people, for example, value feelings over everything else, their vocabulary in that area may be more diverse than in others. It may include different but similar words to explain intricate details. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_for_love" target="new">Greek has several words for 'love'</a> depending on the context of the word. In English, we can say, 'I love my boyfriend,' 'He loves that man,' 'I love my father,' 'I love my friends,' 'I love those shoes,' etc. and there is no distinction between them. <br />
<br />
<hr><hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
What other ways could you show ownership in a language?<br />
<br />
Do you think masculine and feminine words are helpful? Why or why not?<br />
<br />
If you are making a language for a constructed world, would you want to create irregular words? Why or why not?<br />
<br />
What other kinds of values could a culture have and how might that affect their language?<br />
<br />
How about the people themselves. Are these people simple? Intelligent? Orderly? How is this reflected in the language?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-35839629730549066742011-07-04T19:38:00.001-04:002011-07-04T19:38:28.416-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Rules & Grammar: Sentence OrderThe first thing you should consider when creating your language is the order in which your language will be spoken. The two most popular methods are<br />
<ul><li><b>Subject-verb-object</b>, also called SVO - English, French, and Spanish are examples of SVO languages.</li>
<li><b>Subject-object-verb</b>, also called SOV - Japanese, Navajo, and Ancient Greek are examples of SOV languages.</li>
</ul>Other less popular options are<br />
<ul><li><b>Verb-Subject-Object</b>, also called VSO - Some examples are Arabic, and sometimes in Welsh and Portuguese.</li>
<li><b>Verb-Object-Subject</b>, also called VOS - An example is formal Arabic.</li>
<li><b>Object-Subject-Verb</b>, also called OSV - An example is Apurinã and other languages from the Amazon basin.</li>
<li><b>Object-Verb-Subject</b>, also called OVS - This is rare for a language to have, but can be seen to happen in languages with a relatively free word order due to case marking, such as in Arabic, Hungarian, and Finnish.</li>
</ul><br />
<hr><hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
Why do you think SVO and SOV are the most popular language orders? What is more convenient about these languages than the others? Do the others have something more convenient than SVO or SOV languages? Why or why not?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-76468113978066047622011-07-04T19:38:00.000-04:002011-07-04T19:38:09.573-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Writing Systems: DirectionWhich direction is your script written in?<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6003/5899427609_d575aba463_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
First row, all starting points are at the top:<br />
<ul><li>Left to right</li>
<li>Right to left</li>
<li>Left to right, and then right to left</li>
<li>Right to left, and then left to right</li>
</ul><br />
Second row, all starting points are at the bottom:<br />
<ul><li>Left to right</li>
<li>Right to left</li>
<li>Right to left, and then left to right</li>
<li>Left to right, and then right to left</li>
</ul><br />
Third row:<br />
<ul><li>Starting at the top left, read from top to bottom</li>
<li>Starting at the top right, read from top to bottom</li>
<li>Starting at the bottom left, read from bottom to top</li>
<li>Starting at the bottom right, read from bottom to top</li>
</ul><br />
Fourth row:<br />
<ul><li>Starting at the bottom left, read from bottom to top, then top to bottom</li>
<li>Reading from the top right, read from top to bottom, then bottom to top</li>
<li>Reading from the top left, read from top to bottom, then bottom to top</li>
<li>Starting from the bottom right, read from bottom to top, then top to bottom</li>
</ul><br />
Left to right, right to left, and top to bottom are probably the most popular. Left to right, and then right to left, and vice versa, was probably used most popularly by the ancient Egyptians.<br />
<br />
You don't have to stick to a linear fashion, however. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaistos_Disc" target="new">Phaistos Disc</a> shows text being written in spiral; though I don't think it was always written in spiral, this is an option. <br />
<br />
Handedness and writing supplies may be indicators of which direction the text would naturally flow. In the West, being right handed is most popular, so writing from left to right is the easiest way to write for most people there (it flows better and you are less likely to smudge what you have written).<br />
<br />
<hr><hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
Which direction of writing do you think is most convenient? Which do you think is least convenient? Why?<br />
<br />
What other ways of writing could there be? What kinds of people might use such a writing system?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-27332774133125721742011-07-04T19:37:00.001-04:002011-07-04T19:37:34.844-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Writing Systems: LogographicIn a <b>logographic writing system</b>, words are 'spelt' out using meaning. Hanzi (Chinese) and kanji (Japanese) are both examples of logographic writing systems.<br />
<br />
For an example, we'll use Japanese:<br />
<ul><li>The Japanese word for 'one' is <i>ichi</i>.</li>
<li>The Japanese word for 'moon' is <i>tsuki</i>.</li>
<li>The Japanese word for 'January' is <i>ichigatsu</i>.</li>
</ul><br />
When writing in kanji, 'ichi' looks like this:<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5272/5899196371_d8405304a6_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
When writing in kanji, 'tsuki' looks like this:<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/5899760698_22464eb36e_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
When writing in kanji, 'ichigatsu' looks like this:<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5899196357_219d098ddc_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
Notice how 'ichigatsu' is spelt with the same kanji letter as 'moon'? That's because months are based on the cycle of the Moon (<i>moon</i>ths). You do not pronounce 'ichigatsu' as <i>ichi-tsuki</i>, but you spell it with the same letter because of the <i>meaning</i> of the word.<br />
<br />
Note: Japanese writing actually consists of four writing systems:<br />
<ul><li><b>Kanji</b> - A logographic writing system with letters taken from Chinese, but mostly have different meanings.</li>
<li><b>Hiragana</b> - An alphabetic system to write Japanese words.</li>
<li><b>Katakana</b> - An alphabetic system to write words derived from other languages. (Ex. 'Anime' is from English <i>animation</i> and 'kissu' is from English <i>kiss</i>.)</li>
<li><b>Rōmaji</b> - Japanese words written with the Roman alphabet.</li>
</ul>So, though kanji is logographic, Japanese writing is also made up of alphabetic systems, and some words are not completely spelt out with the logographic kanji, and some words don't have a kanji equivalent at all. If you want a partially logographic system like this, feel free to use one.<br />
<br />
<hr><hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
Do you think English could be written as a fully logographic language? Why or why not?<br />
<br />
Make your own writing system for English based on the logographic or partially logographic writing system.<br />
<br />
Examples:<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5077/5899309979_ce3f018b43_o.jpg">Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-84785588524755491232011-07-04T19:37:00.000-04:002011-07-04T19:37:09.455-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Writing Systems: Ideographic --> PictographicAn <b>ideographic script</b> is a script in which graphemes (letters) or ideograms (graphic symbols) are used rather than a specific word in a language.<br />
<br />
A <b>pictographic script</b> is a script where the graphemes are iconic pictures that have a resemblance to physical objects. Pictographic scripts are often what is seen on petroglyphs.<br />
<br />
As said on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writing_systems" target="new">Wikipedia</a>, '[a]lthough a few pictographic or ideographic scripts exist today, there is no single way to read them, because there is no one-to-one correspondence between symbol and language. Hieroglyphs were commonly thought to be ideographic before they were translated, and to this day Chinese is often erroneously said to be ideographic. In some cases of ideographic scripts, only the author of a text can read it with any certainty, and it may be said that they are <i>interpreted</i> rather than read.'<br />
<br />
For example, if I give you the image below, how would you take it?<br />
<center><img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5276/5898923321_d33412c42c_o.jpg"></center><br />
Would you say it means<br />
<ul><li>A fish?</li>
<li>Two fish?</li>
<li>Shooting fish?</li>
<li>Killing fish?</li>
<li>Hunting fish?</li>
<li>Going fishing?</li>
<li>A swimming fish?</li>
<li>An arrow[s] fish?</li>
<li>Right fish?</li>
<li>A name of someone?</li>
<li>Parallel fish?</li>
</ul>My thought was 'going fishing', but you can see it can be interpreted in a number of different ways.<br />
<br />
Note: This is not based on the rebus principle, as the rebus principle is based on the sounds of words, not the meaning of them. However, the rebus principle can be implemented for those words which can not necessarily be drawn.<br />
<br />
For more on pictograms and how they're used even today, visit the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictographic_script" target="new">Wikipedia article</a>.<br />
<br />
<hr><hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
Draw out your own sentences using a pictographic system. How could you write an entire story? Even if you just write one sentence or phrase, why not ask somebody what they think it says?<br />
<br />
<hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
If you found the images below as a cave painting or a secret message somewhere, what do you think the author could have meant? How many ways are there to interpret these images?<br />
<br />
<img alt="Take a picture." src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5073/5899535286_05fde01965_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<img alt="Go outside." src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5111/5899535308_bbee67efd6_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
<img alt="Sleep through the morning." src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/5899535318_ba890aa672_o.jpg"><br />
<br />
For what the author was thinking of when she made them, right click on the image and hit 'properties'; it is under 'alternate text'.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-23083230983889249092011-07-04T19:35:00.001-04:002011-07-04T19:35:36.912-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Writing Systems: Alphabetic and PhoneticAn <b>alphabetic system</b> is a standardised writing system with graphemes (letters) that roughly represent phonemes (basic sounds). The Latin or Roman alphabet (colloquially known in some parts as 'the English alphabet') is the most commonly used writing system in the world, and is considered an alphabetic writing system. Other examples include Greek, Hiragana and Katakana (Japanese), and Hangul (Korean).<br />
<br />
This is the most basic and probably the most often used writing system for conscripts. If you are new, this may be the best option to use, as you can easily create a script to go with sounds or letters from your own language.<br />
<br />
Alphabets use <i>spelling</i> rather than word meaning to write words. You can also choose to have irregularities in your language to make it more natural; English examples:<br />
<ul><li><i>Through</i> is pronounced 'thru'</li>
<li><i>Thought</i> is pronounced 'thawt'</li>
<li><i>Draught</i> is pronounced 'draft'</li>
<li><i>Hiccough</i> is pronounced 'hiccup'</li>
<li><i>Fiery</i> is pronounced 'fire E'</li>
</ul>Not all languages have as many irregularities as English does, though, so you don't need to consider it a requirement. Japanese is a good example of a language with very consistent pronunciation. The pronunciation is, overall, so exact and consistent that different dialects of the Japanese language do not have to do with pronunciation, but rather which words are used (<i>ai</i> versus <i>koi</i>, two words for 'love').<br />
<br />
Note: True alphabetics do not contain diacritic marks such as accents, but that does not mean you cannot include them.<br />
<br />
A <b>phonetic transcription</b> is a writing system that has visual representations of exact speech sounds ('phones'). It is similar to an alphabetic system in that it is not based on meaning. The main difference is that alphabetic systems are standardised and have correct or incorrect spelling (though, words can have more than one correct spelling, such as 'colour' and 'color' or 'favour' and 'favor'), while phonetic systems are based on how the words are pronounced. The word <i>route</i> can be pronounced 'root' or 'rawt', but it is still spelt R-O-U-T-E; if this were a phonetic system, it would be spelt differently based on its pronunciation. The most commonly used phonetic system is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" target="new">International Phonetic Alphabet</a>.<br />
<br />
<hr><hr><br />
<b>EXERCISE</b><br />
<br />
Choose which letters or sounds (from here on out letters or sounds will together be known as 'letters') you want for your language and write them down. If you're a beginner, it may be easier for you to choose letters from your first language to start. You can add any notes that you want.<br />
<br />
Note: You may be unsure at first if you want to go with a specific decision; -- just write it down and add a question mark to it so that you remember it later. It's better to write it down and not use it, than it is to forget something good you would have used.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>Here is my example based on the English alphabet:</i><br />
<br />
Vowels: A E I O U<br />
Consonants: B D F G H J K L M N P R S T V Y Z<br />
<br />
NOTES:<br />
<br />
- No <i>C</i>, because it sounds like <i>S</i> or <i>K</i><br />
- <i>Q</i> is also replaced with <i>K</i><br />
- <i>S</i> becomes <i>Z</i> if it sounds like a <i>Z</i><br />
- <i>G</i> is always hard, like in '<u>g</u>oat', and 'soft' <i>G</i> is replaced by <i>J</i>, like in 'lar<u>g</u>e'<br />
- <i>W</i> is replaced by <i>U</i><br />
- <i>X</i> is replaced by <i>KS</i></blockquote><br />
Punctuation is a very helpful thing to have in a script. If you would like to include any, write those down too.<br />
<br />
Note: Not all scripts use punctuation, so it's not a requirement. Feel free to make up your own marks too. Perhaps you will have something for '?!'/'!?' or three full stops, one for sentences talking about the past, another for sentences talking about the present, and a third when sentences refer to the future.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>Example:</i><br />
<br />
full stop (.)<br />
comma (,)<br />
apostrophe (')<br />
quotes ("" or '')<br />
exclamation point (!)<br />
question mark (?)<br />
parenthesis ( () )</blockquote><br />
Lastly, design your letters and punctuation. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, because you can always correct them later. You can design these 'characters' separately from your letters and punctuation and assign them to a specific letter or punctuation later on.<br />
<br />
Note: If you're not sure where to begin, consider these questions:<br />
<ul><li>Do you want capitalisation or not?</li>
<li>Do you want more rounded letters (ex. hiragana), or letters made of straight lines (ex. futhorc runes)?</li>
<li>Do you want simple letters, or more complex letters?</li>
<li>Do you want letters that can be joined together like cursive, or would you prefer each letter is written separately like print?</li>
</ul>And you can always create letters inspired by a variety of things as well, such as<br />
<ul><li>Animals</li>
<li>Buildings</li>
<li>Cars</li>
<li>Cloud shapes</li>
<li>Cooking</li>
<li>Flowers</li>
<li>The beach</li>
<li>Lamps</li>
</ul><br />
<blockquote><i>This example was inspired by tea sets; it is more simple and rounded with no capitalisation or joined letters:</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5240/5893315290_08eb0bab08_o.jpg" target="new"><img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5240/5893315290_934153df1a.jpg"></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/5893315300_7464de644f_o.jpg" target="new"><img alt="" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/5893315300_603d22121c.jpg" width="250 px"></a></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-91147485558703783832011-07-04T19:35:00.000-04:002011-07-04T19:35:09.517-04:00A Guide to Constructed Languages: Introduction<b>What is a constructed language or conlang?</b><br />
<br />
A constructed language, planned language, or conlang is a language made up deliberately by a person or group of people rather than having evolved naturally. "Planned language" is more often used to mean a language intended for actual human use, and "conlang" is more colloquial. Language games are a kind of conlang (ex. <a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/language-games-pig-latin.html" target="new">Pig Latin</a>). For a more detailed explanation of conlangs, head over to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conlang" target="new">Wikipedia page on conlangs</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>What is a constructed script or conscript?</b><br />
<br />
A constructed script or conscript is a writing system made up by a person or group of people, usually to go along with a conlang, which did not evolve naturally. A <a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/05/cryptology-substitution-and-shift.html" target="new">substitution cypher</a> could be considered a kind of conscript. For a more detailed explanation of conscripts, head over to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructed_script" target="new">Wikipedia page on conscripts</a>.<br />
<br />
NOTE: Not to be confused with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscript" target="new">conscription</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Who can conlang?</b><br />
<br />
Anyone can conlang. If you want to, go ahead. If people say it's silly or pointless, you can point out notable languages such as Quenya, the elvish language by JRR Tolkien in his fictional world Middle Earth, Klingon, the language of the Klingon race in Star Trek, or Esperanto, an auxiliary language which has around ten-thousand to two-million speakers. There are many more, but these are three of the most popular and they all have people that know and speak them. Besides, if you enjoy it, why not do it if it's not hurting anyone else? <br />
<br />
<b>Why do people conlang?</b><br />
<br />
There are many different reasons why a person might conlang: Perhaps they want to make a language for everyone in the world to learn so we all have a unified language and can communicate better (these are often called '[constructed] auxiliary languages'). Or maybe they're writing a story and want a language to go along with a group of people in the story so it seems more authentic. Maybe a group of kids want to communicate with each other but not allow pesky parents, siblings, or classmates to know what they're saying or writing. Perhaps the person just enjoys it.<br />
<br />
<b>How should I approach this guide?</b><br />
<br />
In each section, I try to include information, options, and exercises or questions to ask yourself in order for you to create a constructed language. It is up to you as a reader to choose whether you would like to make a simple or more complex language.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-86773918575031285962011-07-01T22:28:00.000-04:002011-07-01T22:28:06.987-04:00Language Games: Pig Latin<center><img alt="pukipuki georgia pig latin" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4924310541_e5dd38d313_o.jpg" border="0"></center><br />
One of the most common language games in English is Pig Latin, also known as Dirty Greek. Pig Latin is so wide-spread there are even various dialects. Some might say, "Histay isay Igpay Atinlay, oday ouyay understanday?" while someone else might say it, "Isthay isay Igpay Atlinlay, oday ouyay underayandstay?" Someone might say "ueenqay" and another could say "eenquay."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2163/whats-the-origin-of-pig-latin" target="new">Here</a> is a brief history of Pig Latin on The Straight Dope. Modern Pig Latin seems to have derived from Dog Latin, which is making modern English sound like Latin, or by translating English words to Latin without conjugation or declension. Manius peoplum do thus withoutium knowingus itus isum Historicalus. Vel, potius, id incendo similis hoc.<br />
<center><img alt="walking pigs, animated bar" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4924928782_e9406124d6_o.gif" border="0"></center><br />
The most common method of Pig Latin is taking the first consonant or consonant cluster and bringing it to the end of the word and adding "ay" or "ey."<br />
<br />
<img alt="pukipuki georgia pointing" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4924906534_deef53f94f_m.jpg" border="0" align="right">Ex.<br />
<br />
Happy --> Appyhay<br />
Stay --> Aystay<br />
Strong --> Ongstray<br />
Sly --> Yslay<br />
<br />
Occasionally, only the very first consonant is taken:<br />
<br />
Stay --> Taysay<br />
Strong --> Trongsay<br />
Sly --> Lysay<br />
<br />
Words that begin with a vowel do not carry anything. Usually, "ay" is added to the end when the word already ends in a consonant or consonant sound, and "hay," "yay" or "way" are added when the word ends in a vowel or vowel sound.<br />
<br />
Ex. using "yay":<br />
<br />
Up --> Upay<br />
Use --> Useay [or] useyay<br />
Herbs --> Erbshay [or] herbsay<br />
Utopia --> Utopiayay [or] opiautay<br />
<br />
Occasionally, "hay," "yay," or "way" are added regardless, other times it is only ever "ay" or "ey."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ai-momo/4924906268/" target="new"><img alt="pukipuki georgia sheet music" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4924310775_c1493dde95_m.jpg" border="0" align="left"></a>Ex. using "way":<br />
<br />
Up --> Upway<br />
Herbs --> Erbshay [or] herbsway<br />
<br />
Compound words are usually split between the two words it's made from.<br />
<br />
Ex.<br />
<br />
Understand --> Underayandstay<br />
Schoolwork --> Oolschayorkway<br />
Upside --> Upayidesay<br />
<br />
Here are some online translators if you can't or are too lazy to do it yourself:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://users.snowcrest.net/donnelly/piglatin.html" target="new">001</a><br />
<a href="http://www.piglatin.ws/" target="new">002</a><br />
<a href="http://piglatin.bavetta.com/index.php" target="new">003</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wordplays.com/fcgi-bin/pig.pl" target="new">004</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/igpay-atinlay/id349889166?mt=8" target="new">Pig Latin translator for your iPhone</a>.<br />
<br />
And, of course, <a href="http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=xx-piglatin" target="new">Google in Pig Latin</a>.<br />
<center><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4924333271_8962f9e5fd_o.jpg" target="new"><img alt="pukipuki georgia sheet music" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4924310707_2210e5c886_m.jpg" border="0"></a></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-697184584611984676.post-71891961451513371462011-07-01T19:26:00.001-04:002011-07-01T19:28:27.414-04:00Sending Intergalactic Mail: Alphabet<ul><li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/intergalactic-mail-igm-is-similar-to.html">Addresses</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/sending-intergalactic-mail-postage.html">Postage</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tutorialsoneverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/sending-intergalactic-mail-alphabet.html">Alphabet</a></li>
</ul><br />
Alright, so you may be wondering how people from IGM can read <b>English</b> and <b>the Roman alphabet</b>. I mean, how stupid do I think you are, right?! Well...very. Just kidding.<br />
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People from IGM can actually read a variety of languages. It's pretty essential if they're going to be delivering to an array of planets with different alphabets and languages. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ai-momo/5538192005/" target="new"><img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/5538192005_51d7249be5.jpg" border="0" width="200 px" align="right"></a> They <i>do</i> have an "official" alphabet that they used more often in the past; it would have been under the Earth address on our envelopes (the Earth address in the Roman Alphabet so that it can be read). I don't know how it was before, when people used pigeon post and such, -- I suppose they just beamed them down. No, really, we didn't have much alien contact at the time, I've heard of some obscure tales, but I don't know which ones are true and which are not.<br />
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Each letter in the alphabet is pretty much equivalent to the letters of the Roman alphabet (seen on right, click for full size). It's malleable, however, to a variety of alphabet sounds, sort of like when we use <i>R/r</i> for a flat, trilled, or rolled <i>R/r</i> sound without changing the letter itself (Ex. English <i>rake</i>, Spanish <i>flor</i>; Japanese <i>roku</i>).<br />
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The alphabet began in an attempt to have a universal alphabet (being that math, the universal language, might not be ideal to send mail). The creators tried to achieve an alphabet that would look uniform and organised.<br />
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The alphabet is still in use as the "official" IGM alphabet; however, its use has declined for at least two reasons:<blockquote>001. There are so many people from all over using IGM, it became difficult to even send letters back to the sender, because they couldn't read the return address, due to the fact that many people wouldn't use the IGM alphabet at all, never mind on the proper parts; and<br />
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002. The alphabet proved to be a pain for those with dyslexia.</blockquote>The alphabet is therefore no longer a requirement unless the language of the sender is not among those acceptable by IGM. Most languages are, but I can't seem to get my hands on an official list at the moment. (Sorry.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.zazzle.com/intergalacticmail*/gifts?cg=196994427349164188" target="new"><img alt="" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/5559838066_df066b926d_o.jpg" border="0"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0