CBB Audio Relay I (Half way done!)

[qwed117]

A couple of months ago I floated the idea of an 'audio relay' out here and on the discord, and received some general appraisal that it was an interesting idea. Today I propose the first ever CBB Audio Relay. For those who haven't ever done a relay before, it is a conlang version of the children's game 'Telephone' or 'Chinese Whispers'. Here's how it'll work (largely modeled off of Dzeta's introduction to the CBB XVI Conlang Relay):

The player ahead of you will send you two things:

• An audio recording in their conlang
• A grammar of their conlang, which should include
  • a phonology section
  • a traditional "grammar" section that details relevant morphology and syntax (please be judicious)
  • an English-Conlang dictionary that contains the words found in the text, homophones, and near-homophones the words found in the text in a form sufficient to decipher the text, as well as, optionally homophones and near homophones

After receiving those, you will translate the audio recording in to English, after which you will create:

• an audio translation of said text into your conlang
• a description of the necessary grammar to gloss said text, containing a phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon necessary to translate the text

You will pass the audio recording, and the grammar on to the next person in your ring, and you will pass the audio recording and the English translation (which should be in text) on to me, the organizer. Optionally, an English reading of the text can be sent to me as well. Details on that are at the end.

Expected turnaround time is a week, which is longer than a typical relay. This is a soft cap. I understand the modality of the relay may make it more difficult to translate, however, please try not to stretch it too much. Two weeks should be a very reasonable time to finish the task. If you foresee that you have a very busy or stressful week before your turn begins, or shortly thereafter, kindly give a heads-up in time and we can shift you to a later position. If you run through two full weeks without completing it and there is no sign that it will be done very soon after, your turn will be passed over to avoid the relay stalling.

This is an inaugural/preliminary relay, so I do expect some coordination difficulties. The base text is shorter than the typical relay text to compensate. Please try to work together to limit the extent of such problems.

Finally, some recommendations based on past relays, and expected difficulties:
While there are many types of sound files that do exist, please try to be reasonable, and accommodative if someone cannot open the audio file. Vocaroo provides good audio recording/hosting services.
You do not have to record the audio file in one go. Within reason, splicing together multiple takes is okay. Please be reasonable with this.
If you have vocal dysphoria, it is okay to 'pitch' the audio file up or down so as to better fit your identity. Please try to maintain the original speed of the audio.
If you cannot for the life of you find a word from the audiofile in the lexicon you've been given, don't hesitate to message your predecessor, using a timestamp, or your best approximation of what the word is. No-one is infallible and we forget random words all the time. :)
Once you have translated your given text into English, consider doing a quick rewrite to smooth over any awkward phrasings or non sequiturs. Not only will this improve the coherency of your English translation and make it easier to render in your language (and later to decipher!), but it will also help the process of Chinese Whispers along!

I hope to begin the relay sometime during the week of September 4th - 8th, and hope to finalize the participant list at that time. If there are a large number of sign ups, multiple rings may be made. My desire is to provide, alongside the written English translations to show change, an audio file with the translations to show the changes, so the optional audio English translation would be much appreciated. It is not mandatory. The English text is mandatory regardless of if an audio file is provided

Participants:

1. Qwed117 - HTAP — Sept 6th
2. Loglorn - Suave Sept 6th — Sept 12th
3. Üdj - Laakitlantu (preference for earlier) Sept 12th — Sept 25
4. Yrusia - Stách'í Góónína (preference for earlier) Sept 25 — Oct 12
5. Kiwikami - Alál Oct 12 — Oct 30
6. Mándinrùh - Atili (NB: switched with Jackk) Nov 3 — Nov 18
7. VaptuantaDoi - Gkǀx’åƛa Nov 18 — Dec 9
8. Jackk - Borlish Dec 9 — Dec 15
9. DzêtaRedfang - Atruozan Dec 15 — Dec 19
10. Hand of Kyal - Taara Dec 19 — Jan 12
11. Znex - Yorkish Jan 12 —
12. Conlang-creature - Verlonqa

Let me know if you have any suggestions. Have fun!

[Man in Space]

an English-Conlang dictionary that contains only the words found in the text, homophones, and near-homophones

Oh that is devious…this is going to not so much go off the rails as somehow launch itself into orbit.

[qwed117]

an English-Conlang dictionary that contains only the words found in the text, homophones, and near-homophones

Oh that is devious…this is going to not so much go off the rails as somehow launch itself into orbit.

I should phrase that, less as a requirement, and more as a suggestion. It is probably reasonable to include homographs/near homographs in any relay lexicon imo though.

[loglorn]

I'd like to join with Suave (god bless me accurately doing apical and laminal sibilants). I'm gonna have several bad weeks in the following months though, and may not manage to actually do it, but i am very interested.

[Khemehekis]

[*]an English-Conlang dictionary that contains the words found in the text, homophones, and near-homophones the words found in the text in a form sufficient to decipher the text, as well as, optionally homophones and near homophones[/list][/list]

An English-Conlang dictionary? One would expect a Conlang-English dictionary, wouldn't one?

[kiwikami]

This is a bizarre and delightful idea. I'm in with Alál, and I apologize in advance for my vowels.

[Creyeditor]

That sounds like a great idea So many cool things, so little time. I won't be able to join. I wish you all a lot of fun though.

[DesEsseintes]

This sounds amazing and I would love to take part in something like this one day, but I’m pretty sure my present circumstances won’t allow it. I will be following though and really look forward to seeing the results of this!

Edit: quick observation: the torches will need to contain somewhat detailed descriptions of the conlang phonologies involved and the orthographic conventions used to represent phonemes in the dictionary entries.

[Jackk]

Sign me up with Borlish!

[gestaltist]

Really love the idea! I won't have the time to participate, personally, but I wish I could. Audio form gives a completely different quality to the exercise. And I hope you upload the recordings later for all of us to enjoy.

[Arayaz]

Ahhhh! I need to do this! Laakitlantu is so fun to speak. Unfortunately being a student, my work is only going to increase as we approach the winter months. Perhaps by a stroke of luck it'll land during a break? Nonetheless, I'm up for it, though I may need to be skipped, depending on my workload.

Hopefully my ability to produce nasal consonants will have recovered by then .

That sounds like a great idea So many cool things, so little time. I won't be able to join. I wish you all a lot of fun though.

Answer me straight ─ would you have used Ook?

[qwed117]

This sounds amazing and I would love to take part in something like this one day, but I’m pretty sure my present circumstances won’t allow it. I will be following though and really look forward to seeing the results of this!

Edit: quick observation: the torches will need to contain somewhat detailed descriptions of the conlang phonologies involved and the orthographic conventions used to represent phonemes in the dictionary entries.

When I floated the idea in January, I hadn't really known that you had suggested the same two and half years prior, a couple months after my computer broke and I wasn't on discord anymore. Good recommendation regarding phonologies and orthography.

[Creyeditor]

That sounds like a great idea So many cool things, so little time. I won't be able to join. I wish you all a lot of fun though.

Answer me straight ─ would you have used Ook?

No, never

[DesEsseintes]

This sounds amazing and I would love to take part in something like this one day, but I’m pretty sure my present circumstances won’t allow it. I will be following though and really look forward to seeing the results of this!

Edit: quick observation: the torches will need to contain somewhat detailed descriptions of the conlang phonologies involved and the orthographic conventions used to represent phonemes in the dictionary entries.

When I floated the idea in January, I hadn't really known that you had suggested the same two and half years prior, a couple months after my computer broke and I wasn't on discord anymore. Good recommendation regarding phonologies and orthography.

Interesting! I do not remember this at all

[Arayaz]

(god bless me accurately doing apical and laminal sibilants)

Oh no...
Oh noooo...
I cannot tell those apart...

[Yrusia]

I'd like to (tentatively) sign up with Stách'í Góónína - hopefully before my classes start back up at the beginning of October!

[qwed117]

I'd like to (tentatively) sign up with Stách'í Góónína - hopefully before my classes start back up at the beginning of October!

Great to see you, (I feel like the last time I talked to you was on the CBB IRC days, long long ago). If it works I'll try to put you earlier in the queue. There's a lot of slack with the time, and the torch is much shorter so, I wouldn't be too worried about time.

[VaptuantaDoi]

I'll sign up with proto-Click just to inflict pain on myself and whoever follows me.

[Mándinrùh]

I'll give this a go with Atili. May I suggest that the writeup also include phonology charts and orthography rules so we have some idea what sounds we're looking for and how those might be written in the dictionary?

But I won't be able to do the first week of October because I'll be at a conference all week.

[qwed117]

The first torch has been sent to loglorn! (formally as of September 6th)

It will still be possible to sign up for the relay, for any hesitant straggler, until this Sunday.

Thank you! Let the fun begin!