Comments on: Dreaming of a Perfect Language

By: Natasha

Natasha — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:22:54 +0000

Great program, as usual! I was hoping you would post some credit for the music act – “We will rock you” in Klingon. Where can I find the whole track???
Thanks!

By: Hoĉjo

Hoĉjo — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:08:53 +0000

@Fluffyskunk: Most of the criticisms from the link you cite are actually the author’s personal stylistic preferences dressed up in pseudo-linguistic garb. Most of these have been addressed quite thoughtfully by Claude Piron, a former UN translator and prolific author who worked with western european, slavic, and asian languages in addition to Esperanto. You might find his replies useful: http://claudepiron.free.fr/articlesenanglais/why.htm

By: Klingon, Elvish and Esperanto — Linguist takes a serious look at Invented Languages | Life, the Universe and Everything | Alphaverse.com

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:09:46 +0000

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By: Fluffyskunk

Fluffyskunk — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:22:14 +0000

Vilchjo - most conlangs are not IALs like Esperanto, and do not attempt to compete with it. Like Tolkien's languages (Quenya, Sindarin, Khuzdul among others), most conlangs are primarily works of art, not intended to be spoken by anyone except maybe the implied fictional speakers in whatever context the language is set in. For a more comprehensive and convincing critique of Esperanto than anything I can offer, vidu ĉi tion.

By: Bruno Dantas

Bruno Dantas — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:47:15 +0000

I was skeptical about invented languages but, on a whim, I decided to teach myself Esperanto two years ago. I have traveled more–and more cheaply–in the last two years than in all the rest of my years put together. Also, I have had many delightful intercultural exchanges that would not have been possible without the aid of such a bridge language. Esperanto made a believer out of me.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:14:50 +0000

A rarely-mentioned international auxiliary language worth checking out is Unilingua (aka: Mirad) on Wikibooks. It is one of the most well-thought-out, ingenious solutions out there for serious use.

I think what we really need to be working on is a computer-parsable “interlingua” that can be used as a medium into and out of which all other natural languages can be automatically translated with confidence. The project that has come closest to this can be studied at http://www.eskimo.com/~ram/lexical_semantics.html#S4_3_4. This, by the way, has nothing to do with the popularly-known Interlingua language by Peano, which, though brilliant, is just another Euro-centric endeavor.

By: mankso

mankso — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:12:48 +0000

Jayarava:
Please do tell us where you read that odd info! Where and when in the world has there ever been a Klingon conference with around 2,000 fluent speakers, such as can be found at each annual world Esperanto congress?:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Esperanto_Congress
or even a daily podcast such as in Esperanto:
http://www.polskieradio.pl/eo/

By: Jayarava

Jayarava — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:09:13 +0000

I’ve read that more people speak Klingon than Esperanto… bljeghbe’chugh vaj blHegh!

By: Ralph Dumain

Ralph Dumain — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:03:30 +0000

I became interested in this subject in my teenage years some decades ago, when I also learned Esperanto. I searched out the rather obscure material on the subject. There has been a plethora of scholarly books on the philosophical languages (approx. 1600-1800) in recent years. Yet I can’t think of a popular major book in English on the subject of artificial languages since Mario Pei’s 1958 ONE LANGUAGE FOR THE WORLD. Primarily artistic languages were not on the radar screen back then. It’s a delight to see the subject popularized for the mass market and even on the radio, and treated with some dignity to boot.

By: chouchana

chouchana — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:35:25 +0000

james Hebrew is not yidish.

By: Fred Swartz

Fred Swartz — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:54:05 +0000

While I find many constructed languages interesting, real economic and education advantages could be gained by simplifications. Having taught English to speakers of other languages, eliminating many irregularities (verbs, spelling, plurals, etc) would be a great benefit to non-native speakers as well as native speakers.

For example, the idea of a spelling bee makes the Germans laugh because German has such regular spelling.

The evolution of English has generally been in the direction of simplification (eg fewer plural and verb tense irregularities) — shouldn’t we just encourage this even more?

By: The Long Now Blog » Blog Archive » Klingon, Elvish and Esperanto — Linguist takes a serious look at Invented Languages

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:53:31 +0000

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By: Phil Dorcas

Phil Dorcas — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:12:58 +0000

I would put Dr. L. L. Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto, in the category of visionary, dreamer, and idealist, even though one would hesitate even to say “idealist” because Esperanto is very real. The proof is in the pudding. Esperanto works. It works much better than advertised.

Filipo de Esperanto-USA.

By: Vilchjo de Mesao Arizono, Usono

Vilchjo de Mesao Arizono, Usono — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:19:52 +0000

There is no need for any other planned – not artificial – language other than Esperanto.

Wel, if you consider a train an artificial horse – I guess you could consider Esperanto an artificial language.

Vilchjo de Mesao Arizono, Usono

By: james in Providence

james in Providence — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:00:12 +0000

Chouchana– thanks. I’ve been curious. May be that I’ve been confused by what I’ve heard (and am ignorant) of Yiddish. A beautiful history, no doubt. (Or herstory!)

I find linguistics– a branch of anthropology– fascinating.

By: Dani

Dani — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:58:08 +0000

I have been frustrated with my language (english) many times in my life. Recently I’ve delved into the world of poetry more, reading and writing it, and I’ve found that through the language of poetry, I’ve found a deeper, more meaningful, more honest way of communicating my thoughts and ideas and views of the world.

Best.

By: Nat Harrington

Nat Harrington — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:47:21 +0000

Speaking as a conlanger, I was initially going to be deeply bothered by the claim that conlangs are primarily created for the purpose of making a perfect language. (For my part, for example, I know that my own conlangs are all artistic, and the majority of conlangers I know fit into the same scheme.) I know that irregularities in verbs, nouns, etc. are — for me at least — one of the most interesting parts of conlanging. Conlanging allows insight into the way natural languages work as well as constituting an art form of its own, an end unto itself. Sure, it’d be gratifying if people would learn some of them, but that’s not the point.

Finally, I can say without hesitation or doubt that more than 900 conlangs have been created, with various degrees of “completeness” — insofar as that applies to any language — within the past five years (if not the past year), let alone the past 900 years.

By: Aeetlrcreejl

Aeetlrcreejl — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:46:20 +0000

I suppose I’m one of them, having worked on Jinnic and Lorošae for so long. Nice to see that our kind is finally getting some recognition.

By: John S. Allen

John S. Allen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:32:28 +0000

A friend, an Esperantist, tells me that Esperanto is very helpful as an intermediate language for computer translation between two others. One advantage is that there is only the need to develop one system of translation (to/from Esperanto) for each natural language; another is that Esperanto is logical in its assignment of meanings, avoiding ambiguity and the need to determine meaning through context. Comments?

By: David Eddy

David Eddy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:29:27 +0000

Fascinating topic.

And what about the unique language(s) created & used within companies & workgroups?

Tends to be slang, acronyms, crude puns/humor, etc. and constantly evolving.

For me the frustrating part is that professional lexicographers strongly pretend that such language simply does not exist.