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Hello Eamon, thank you for your kind words! Skrzypszys': > As I understand your language comes around through the contact of > Latin and Slavic, I wonder if you looked at any of the ways the > Slavic substrate and contact influenced the development of Romanian, > being a Romance language with significant Slavic influence in > phonology, grammar and vocabulary (and other influences too). Even > the inflection of nouns is thought to have been retained in Romanian > from Latin under Slavic influence. The Slavic influence on the > development of Romanian may or may not fit in with your plan (and I > think you probably wanted something a lot more thoroughly Slavic > than Romanian) but I was curious if you had considered it. Of course I have considered it! My original idea was nothing more than creating a Romance language with Slavic substratum. The first thing I started wondering about, is where such a language would be most likely to emerge. In a thread on Conlang about the subject, Tom Wier and Peter Clark provided me with very useful input. The conclusion was (and I fulheartely agree with it) that the best place for such a language would be somewhere close to Romania. But you are right: I tried to avoid Romanian. First of all, I am far from well-informed about the peculiarities of the Romanian language. I find it a very beautiful language, though. Secondly, the substratum of Romanian is not Slavic, but Dacian (a tribe related to the Thracians). The Slavs must rather be considered a superstratum: when they appeared on the stage, the merger of Latin with the local Dacian language had already taken place centuries before. Their influence, however, can surely not be underestimated. Furthermore, I would have to deal with Balkan or Ukrainian history and find a solutation for the invasions of Huns, Avars, Magyars, Turks, etc. And the most important argument: I wanted my substratum to be West-Slavic, and my orthography to be Polish. In the very beginning of my project, I have been experimenting with an alternative, more South-Slavic orthography, but it made me feel uncomfortable. But some of the characteristics of Romanian you mention will also exist in Wenedyk. One of my simple "rules" is the following: if something exists in both Latin and Slavic, then there is no reason at all to change it. For example, Wenedyk will not have articles (as far as I know, it is the only Romance language or conlang with that feature. Besides, the Latin case system will (of course) survive. BTW All this doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a great idea to build a South-Slavic-based Romance language as well. Old Church Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) provides us with every tool necessary for creating it; I just don't feel that I am the right person for it. > Again, I really enjoy watching your progress and learning from your > methods. Thank you again! Best, Jan ===== "Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com