Jared Angell wrote:
Okay, I'm really curious: Are you a linguist Bob?
I have never taken a single course in linguistics (and indeed had no interest in languages for 5 years after college), but after 20+ years I have certainly read a number of linguistics books, and undergone numerous lectures on the error of my linguistic ways.
I have a bachelor's degree in Astrophysics from Michigan State, as a coordinate major with a liberal science degree.
And if not then why haven't you received an honorary degree in linguistics by now?
I doubt if my work has been worthy of such a thing, and have no idea how such things are decided.
And, as I've said, academic linguistics thinks rather poorly of artificial languages.
(I've occasionally had pipe dreams of a MacArthur Fellowship, which from the sound of it more suits the sort of thing I do, but they are even more rare and unpredictable).
Before I started raising kids, when I had time and energy, I went to a few linguistics conferences, and maintained active correspondence, and as a result, I did make a few friends for us in the linguistics community, so Lojban is perhaps as respected as any artificial language has been. But we have a long way to go, and I don't have the credentials or training (much less the time) to get there.
lojbab