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Enochian (was Re: What is needed in an conlang classificatory system?)

From:Jörg Rhiemeier <joerg.rhiemeier@...>
Date:Saturday, February 3, 2001, 0:42
Dan Jones <feuchard@...> writes:

> Jörg Rhiemeiero skaradayan: > > > There are of course borderline cases. Is Enochian A2, B3, B4, C1 or > > What's Enochian?
No-one knows for sure what Enochian actually is. Enochian is the creation of John Dee, a 16th-century English alchemist/occultist who claimed that it was the "language of Angels" (these Angels, however, judging by what Dee wrote about them, rather seem to resemble demons). It is not yet known for sure, ISTR, whether it is an actaual conlang with a grammar and a vocabulary, a sort of relexified Latin or other natlang, a cipher, or anything else. Dee apparently gave translations to the invocations written in Enochian, and some words appear in different forms in different contexts, which by some is taken as a sign of inflection, but nothing seems to be certain. Most of the vocabulary seems to consist of the names of angels and miscellaneous alchemist terminology, judging by the word-lists I have seen on the Net. The language gave rise to an occult tradition of "Enochian magick", and it is perhaps the reason why some Christian fundamentalists look upon conlanging with such vile disgust. Personally, I find the Enochian language interesting (*as a conlang*, that is, I have no business with any kind of magick and occultism!!!) and worth exploring; reconstructing its grammar, if there is one, would be a challenge! Jörg.