It's Time to Write in the Journal
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This year, 2007, marks Tapissary’s 30th anniversary. To celebrate, I’ve been making adjustments to the grammar. The journal is my practice sheet where I merge linguistic invention with my daily experiences.
MINI LESSONS Starting Oct 2 2007, I'm including occasional brief lessons in Tapissary on the Journal. They use the vocabulary and grammar from highlighted journal entries so that you can get more insight into how the sentences work. There will also be a dictionary of the most common çelloglyphs on this site so that you can write your own texts.
There are two different approaches to writing Tapissary. The first, ‘line Tapissary’ (or linear Tapissary) has a grammar that is very close to English. The second, ‘cyclic Tapissary’ involves a grammar that reveals the position of any given communication within the bounds of cycles. Unless otherwise noted, the mini lessons will begin in line Tapissary, which is more basic.
The formulae you see preceding each phrase below (such as: [≈] + V ) refer to the cyclic grammar.
Images and Vocabulary. I base these short Tapissed texts on images. The illustrated entries give me daily practice with language, drawing and/or photography. Each day I highlight a vocabulary word, showing how it fits into a sentence.
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tapissed entries
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Oct 12 2007
MINI LESSON 9
(present tense conjugation and the -ly suffix)
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The conjugation in the present tense is the same in Tapissary as in English. Only the 3rd person singular (he, she, it) alters its form by adding an S in English, and addling a bent bar above the verb in Tapissary.
I see / you see / he, she, it sees / we see / you all see / they see
In Tapissary, the 3rd person singular is a bent bar above the verb, as seen in the red box below.
The adverbial suffix -ly is also shown in the red box below.
Here is some practice with the 3rd person singular, and the suffix -ly.
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1. The bird greets the morning cheerfully with song.
2. The sun rises later and later in the winter.
3. The factory produces tons of candy hourly.
4. I know my neighbor means well.
5. The tree grows slowly but persistently.
6. My neighbor spends money cautiously.
7. The trash collector begins his job before the sun rises.
8. The bird flies higher than the wasp.
9. The bee persistently extracts pollen from the flowers.
10. Who makes the best pizza in the land?
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Oct 11 2007
MINI LESSON 8
(the COMPOSITE article)
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The COMPOSITE is used when two or more qualities make up a noun. Let’s take a ‘wedding’ as an example. This involves the union of 2 people. People are MALLEABLE. The purpose of marriage is to bond 2 lives together which is IDEOLOGICAL. Now let’s take a look at the word ‘theater’. People go to the theater to see a story, which is IDEOLOGICAL. They sit in an audience with other people who are MALLEABLE. The building which houses them is SOLID.
The use of the COMPOSITE is very frequent. Some categories that typify this article are: place, events, circumstance, action and institutions, just to mention a few. Here are some examples of the COMPOSITE:
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1. I learned about the history of India.
2. The recovery after running a marathon takes a little time.
3. They work summers at the farm.
4. The religions were the cause of the war.
5. The luxury made for an expensive trip.
6. You go to the same restaurant often.
7. The room upstairs has the best view.
8. The registration for classes went smoothly.
9. The city shines like diamonds at night.
10. The room with many windows is bright.
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Oct 10 2007
MINI LESSON 7
(the IDEOLOGICAL article)
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There are 6 forms for the article THE. The article parallels a physical state, and includes: solid, liquid, gaseous, malleable, ideological, and composite.
Ideas, thoughts, and abstractions take the IDEOLOGICAL article. These are concepts you cannot physically touch. You learn, but ‘education’ itself is not something you can hold in your hands. Nor are music, love, meditation, joy or memory things you can simply pick up. They belong to the IDEOLOGICAL class. Unless... Remember that in Tapissary, the article is expressive. Love, for instance, may include physical intimacy with another person, and in such a case, would be more appropriate and warm to use the MALLEABLE article. Music is airborne, and could be used with the GASEOUS article... or if you are deeply impressed with the musical brilliance of the performer, the use of the MALLEABLE article with the word music would convey this unity with the instrument. Here are some examples of the IDEOLOGICAL.
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1. The educational system is in need of funds.
2. You can learn the rules.
3. The music of India is aromatic.
4. That is the best idea.
5. The sound of silence is a rare luxury.
6. The pain comes less frequently now.
7. The happiness was contagious.
8. They study about the religions of India in school.
9. She received the honor graciously.
10. The fear of failure is a hard pill to swallow.
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Oct 9 2007
MINI LESSON 6
(the MALLEABLE article)
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There are 6 forms for the article THE. The article parallels a physical state, and includes: solid, liquid, gaseous, malleable, ideological, and composite.
Malleable, flexible, elastic, mushy, and other such textures describe this category. Here are some examples of objects that fit into the MALLEABLE article: paper, leather, fabric, skin (therefore including animals and people), leaves and twigs, rubber, and firm mushy material that can hold their shape, such as modeling clay, gelatin, and ice cream. Fresh mixed cement is classified as a liquid because even though it is thick, it flows. Ice cream is mushy but holds its shape until it melts. When it melts, it takes the liquid article.
The role of articles is expansive. A man is MALLEABLE, but dress him in a suit of armor, and he becomes the(SOLID) knight. The SOLID aspect replaces his independence and perhaps also his emotions with uniform: a man in a can. If you were to write a story about this knight, you might have him undergo some transformation where he rediscovers his humanity. Even if he were to remain in his armor, using the MALLEABLE article would indicate the softening aspect of his metamorphosis.
Trees. How do you specify a tree? The hard trunk relates to SOLID, while the twigs and leaves relate to MALLEABLE. In a case like this, it depends on context. A logger would call a tree SOLID. They are focused on the lumber. Viewing cherry trees in Spring would celebrate the(MALLEABLE) flowers. When you overlook the woods, do you see the leafy canopy, or do you consider the height stored in the trunks? The principle of deciding on the predominant quality of an object is quite frequent. How do you see a school? The buildings, the students, the education? As you’ll see later, the COMPOSITE article takes care of objects that are even distributions of diverse qualities. A tree could also be handled by the composite. I personally see trees generally as MALLEABLE. But if the trunk has an unusual shape, or I am standing right next to a tree’s trunk, I would relate to its solidity. “A rose is a rose is a rose” does not apply in Tapissary. Objects transform, and you will see that this is especially true in the cyclic grammar. Here are some examples of the MALLEABLE:
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Oct 8 2007
MINI LESSON 5
(the GASEOUS article)
There are 6 forms for the article THE. The article parallels a physical state, and includes: solid, liquid, gaseous, malleable, ideological, and composite.
The GASEOUS state goes a little further afield in its boundaries than did the previous two articles. What is gas? It is air, it is helium, it is vapor, it is the speech and song that leave the mouth in puffs of air, but in Tapissary, it is also time. Because time is adrift in the invisible air, it is not considered abstract, but vaporous. Time such as the day, the week, the year, the appointment, and the schedule, join propane and oxygen with the same article. Electricity is also categorized in this group. Therefore, I sometimes qualify internet pages or television shows with the gaseous article as well. After all, a web page is not on a piece of paper, and even the screen is not the actual document. Rather a computer text or image is light, and light uses the gaseous article. Monitor images can also fall under the ideological heading, but I’ll get to that in a later lesson.
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Note: In sentence number 10, the word ‘helium’ is spelled out using the alphabet. There is no çelloglyph for ‘helium’.
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Oct 7 2007
MINI LESSON 4
(the LIQUID article)
There are 6 forms for the article THE. The article parallels a physical state, and includes: solid, liquid, gaseous, malleable, ideological, and composite.
In today’s lesson, the LIQUID article will be used. This includes all liquids from water, juice, and liquid fuel to viscous or slimy consistencies such as molten lava, mucous and oil paint. Note that in the following examples, I have included a couple of the SOLID articles in the phrases as well, so you can see the articles in action:
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Note: You’ll see in number 2 that I wrote ‘fuel’ with the LIQUID article. That’s because I’m referring to a fuel such as gasoline, kerosene or petrol. However, there are also solid fuels, such as wood and charcoal. If you need fuel for your fireplace, you’ll use the SOLID article. When we get to the GASEOUS article in a future lesson, fuel will take on the meaning of gasses such as acetylene and propane. The article frequently plays the role of complementing the chameleon qualities of the noun it describes. As another example, lava can be molten and liquid, but when it cools and hardens, it is a solid. The article would clarify the physical state to which you refer. You can walk on the(SOLID) lava, but you cannot walk on the(LIQUID) lava. There’s plenty of room for playful interpretations: The(LIQUID) water is something you can drink. The(SOLID) water is a poetic rendition of ‘ice’. The(GASEOUS) water is a way to allude to ‘humidity’.
Try these on your own:
1. I pour the water on the clay.
2. The porridge is very hot.
3. The lava is on the mountain.
4. The wine is delicious
5. The delicious porridge is in the clay dish
6. Green insects are in the water.
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Oct 6 2007
MINI LESSON 3
(The SOLID article)
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There are 6 forms for the article THE. I developed them for one of my spoken languages even before Tapissary existed. They have remained a staple feature in the grammar ever since then. The article parallels a physical state, and includes: solid, liquid, gaseous, malleable, ideological, and composite.
For today's lesson, I will introduce the SOLID article. More specifically, this refers to a dense or hard solid, such as wood, stone, glass, etc... Here are some examples:
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Oct 5 2007
graphite sketch 4" x 9",
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.[=] /\+/\ Looking through a book of Van Gogh’s landscapes, I made this pencil sketch after his drawing of a view of La Crau.
Throuwrough a lcôboooking yVan Goghin laghndscape, this pencil môskëëtch after his drawing ya view yLa Crau.
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