Seattle Conlang Club

PidginCraft

PidginCraft is an ongoing, collaborative language genesis experiment. Periodically, players get together in a voice call to play Minecraft. The catch is that no one is allowed to speak the same language at the start. The goal is to gradually develop a new, shared pidgin language that we can all understand. PidginCraft is the successor to Pidgin Island Quest.

Rules

1. Whenever you talk about something, you should use the pidgin whenever possible.
2. The pidgin must be used when talking about Minecraft and the pidgin world, except where technical support is required beyond the scope of normal gameplay (e.g. if you can’t connect to the server).
3. English (and other pre-existing languages) must not be used to say anything that steers the pidgin in a certain direction or encourages other players to do so.
4. Any new words you create must be made up, either on the fly or ahead of time, but try to existing words in the pidgin if possible.
5. We will come together at the end of every session to document the state of the language.
6. All pidgin usage that does not take place during the synchronous sessions should be done in #pidgin-speaking channel.
7. (Optional) think of a language feature you want to introduce to the pidgin, but keep it secret. Try to make other people use your language feature.

FAQ

How is it possible to communicate with anybody if we can’t use natural languages or common conlangs?

You can invent new words and grammar rules as you need them. You can communicate the meaning of your words by doing actions (e.g., say your word for ‘stone’ while placing stone blocks).

I find it hard to invent words and grammar rules on the fly, how can I make it easier for myself?

One strategy is to come up with some words without meaning before a Minecraft session. Then when it comes time to play Minecraft, if you encounter a concept that you want to communicate, you can just pick from that list of words and assign it a meaning. You can also come up with grammar rules ahead of time if you want.

Do I have to attend every meeting?

No, there is no such expectation. Regularly attending meetings will help you practice your pidgin language skills, but you can also read the periodically released grammar write-ups/vocab lists to catch up.

Other players seem to be able to understand each other a bit, but I am completely lost. How can I catch up?

Read the periodically released grammar write-ups/vocab lists.

I can’t find what I am looking for in the grammar write-up/vocab list, what do I do?

Words and phrases only get added to the vocab list/grammar write-up after they’ve been used a few times. In that case, you can just invent a new word or grammar rule (or take one from your personal conlang).

I want to invent a new word for something, but I think someone else already made a word for it. What should I do?

If you can not find a word in the vocab list, it is perfectly acceptable to invent a new word for something, even if you think someone else has already made a word for it. Even if you can find a word in the vocab list, the pidgin language is fluid and evolving and the meaning of words may change over time, so it may be necessary to re-invent a word for some idea.