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Oligosynthetic Toki Pona

 Oligosynthetic Toki Pona toki a jan ale o! tokojanale! Linguists like to push against the idea that any two languages are more complicated than one another. This could be seen to be in conflict with Toki Pona's claim of simplicity and lack of complexity. To be fair to Toki Pona, unlike a natural language - it specifically limits both it's lexicon and grammar - thus to be artificially smaller than natural languages. However, one aspect of Toki Pona simplicity often goes un-examined: grammar simplicity. Toki Pona is maximally isolating and analytic - with zero synthesis whatsoever. This means that no new words can be formed from component parts, with all grammar being done by word order (with the help of marker particals. I want to flip this on it's head, mostly for fun, and to test the limits of this language. I want to make Toki Pona maximally synthetic, while keeping most of everything else the same. Thus the goals will be: Root word list is the same as the base language....
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RTD's Finales AREN'T just Deus Ex Machinas

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RTD's Finales AREN'T just Deus Ex Machinas   I see this criticism a lot. But I want to heavily dispute it here. First, we must talk about what a Deus Ex Machina is. Deus ex machina - Wikipedia Deus Ex Machina - Definition and Examples | LitCharts Deus ex Machina - TV Tropes Twist Ending - TV Tropes Foreshadowing - Wikipedia Chekhov's gun - Wikipedia Deus ex machina is a Latin calque from Greek ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός (apò mēkhanês theós) 'god from the machine'. The term was coined from the conventions of ancient Greek theater, where actors who were playing gods were brought on stage using a machine. The machine could be either a crane (mechane) used to lower actors from above or a riser that brought them up through a trapdoor. Aeschylus introduced the idea and it was used often to resolve the conflict and conclude the drama. The device is associated mostly with Greek tragedy, although it also appeared in comedies. [...] A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby an unsolva...
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"Alphabet"? "Syllabary"? How to categorise sign language writing systems? A Proposal.

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"Alphabet"? "Syllabary"? How to Categorise Sign Language Writing Systems? A Proposal The following article will assume the reader has a familiarity with sign languages, Deaf culture and sign language writing systems. Sources will be given where available. All of the sign language writing systems covered should be available in Zrajm's page (link below). I am in a weird nerd corner of the internet where we talk about sign language writing systems quite a bit. These are orthographies or notation systems used or proposed to write sign languages.  Another nerd in this space is collating a bunch of these sytems into a big page containing as many as possible -  Sign Language Writing (© 2025 Zrajm)  (WIP). My discussions and perusal of this list has lead me to some thoughts about how to categorise said systems. Looking at the above list, at time of writing (09/2025)  gives the following chart; This is a mixture of two separate scales - Linearity and Unicode Compatibilit...
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You Are Overthinking Bigeneration: A Thematic Analysis

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You Are Overthinking Bigeneration: A Thematic Analysis I'm fully aware of the irony of writing a whole post about a topic while saying "you are overthinking it" - but I am a chronic over-thinker too. However, I mean "over thinking " as in applying logic to a problem - instead bigeneration should be "over felt ", applying feelings to it. I see discussion quite a lot here on Reddit saying "Bigeneration doesn't make sense!" or "Why did he do his emotional healing offscreen?" or trying to connect it to some logical framework. The main theory I see offered is as follows; The Dr bigenerates and 14 splits from 15. 14 has a whole separate life for a while. When 14 dies, he will be re-merged with the Dr and become 15. The argument for this is that the line; "I'm fine because you fixed yourself." ... implies 15 is in 14's future. People also argue other lines, or lines from the novelisation also support this. While this ...
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73 Yards is Welshiest Episode of Doctor Who

 73 Yards is Welshiest Episode of Doctor Who I've been leaving comments on various places online, and I think its finally time that I put my thoughts to the page in one centralised place. 73 Yards, Episode 4 of the new Series is a masterpiece on its own. In terms of drama alone it has tension and character in spades. But I'm not just here to gush about Dr Who, I am here to gush about Wales. I am Welsh. I have Welsh family roots and moved to Wales when I was little. I learnt Welsh to fluency in school and was taught the stories and legends. I have written my own (published) stories and fanfiction in Welsh that utilises Welsh culture and folklore. It is a deep part of my identity and cultural outlook. And when I watched 73 Yards, it resonated with me on an equally deep level. In this post I want to talk about the following topics; What Happened?! Welsh Fae and the Far Away Woman. "Bloody Tourists..." - The Pub Scene Roger Ap Gwiliam, the Welsh Farage So Close Yet So Far...
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