In the spirit of experimentation currently being lauded on Elfling, and in
light of the comparatively low scholarly and linguistic content of Elfling
(as I see it), I am essaying to launch a new list, Lambengolmor:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lambengolmor/

The purpose of the Lambengolmor list will be to serve as a _scholarly_ forum
for the _linguistic_ discussion of Tolkien's languages. To achieve this
purpose, the list will be strictly moderated (initially, by myself): that
is, _every_ post to the list will be subject to approval. Further to this
moderation, the norms of scholarship that have been developed over centuries
in the print media will be enforced for this list: primarily, this means
that participants are expected to be _conversant with the literature of the
subject_,* to _position their work with respect to that literature_, and to
_cite their sources_. Referring others to the literature for answers to
their questions is an accepted and common scholarly practice that avoids
needless repetition of work. Copyright will be strictly respected.

* A guide to these resources is at:

http://www.elvish.org/resources.html

Other points of moderation: there will be _no_ personal attacks permitted,
nor claims of such by parties offended by factual criticism. If you have a
personal beef with someone, settle it off list. Replies that clearly miss
the point of their antecedent posts will be rejected. Composition will be
permitted only to the extent that it furthers scholarship (at a minimum,
they must be accompanied by thorough translations, notes, and source
citations). Queries regarding ways to translate something will almost
certainly be rejected. For all these types of post, Elfling has proved
eminently suited and receptive; we don't need another forum for such.

Questions regarding the history of Tolkien's languages (both internal and
external), etymology, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics are, of
course, encouraged.

As a consequence of this strict moderation and adherence to scholarly norms,
I don't expect this list to have a high volume (and hope that it doesn't,
for as long as I am moderator); but as a further consequence I do expect it
to have a very high signal-to-noise ratio. Personally, I think that TolkLang
could have served the purposes I've set out, but for whatever reason it
hasn't. This list may be no more successful. If not, then so be it: perhaps
there is simply not enough interest in Tolkienian linguistics (proper, as a
scholarly endeavor) on the Internet to support such a list.

So, there it is. I'm willing to do my part, for now; the rest is up to you.

P.S. No attachments are permitted in posts to this group. If you wish to
post a file (for example, a PDF version of an article), you can submit it to
the moderator for approval and, if approved, it will be placed in the
Lambengolmor file area.


|======================================================================|
| Carl F. Hostetter Aelfwine@... http://www.elvish.org |
| |
| ho bios brachys, he de techne makre. |
| Ars longa, vita brevis. |
| The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne. |
| "I wish life was not so short," he thought. "Languages take |
| such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about." |
|======================================================================|