Re: USAGE: (Mis)Naming a Language

On Oct 27, 2004, at 2:58 PM, Sally Caves wrote:

> "Also, what if someone created a language with a name like Teonaht,
> not knowing
> that one already existed, and (with no disrespect to this imaginary
> person) was far better?"
>  
> :)  Off with their heads!!
>  
> I'd say that in the case of invented languages, the original inventor,
> i.e., whose language has been in circulation longer on CONLANG, has
> dibs on the name, regardless of whether it or the newly named language
> were better than the other.  That part's irrelevant.  But If someone
> created a language that was much better than mine and called it
> Teonaht, heh heh, I'd ask them to change the name and join me in
> Teon!  
>   
> The situation you describe is more of a bother because Kele is the
> name of a natural language.  Hoo boy.  What a troubling coincidence. 
> I'd say that you'd have to capitulate to the status of the natural
> language and its name, which has been around longer than you have been
> inventing.  Since a scholar did misunderstand you, you might be forced
> to modify the spelling.  But what a pain.  I think I made the spelling
> of Teonaht deliberately eccentric so that it would stand out as
> invented, unique... although I was not consciously aware at the time
> of this particular problem you describe. 
>   
> Which moves me to wonder whether there are any separate natural
> languages that share the same name?  There have to be, given how many
> there are and have been in the world.
I just took a quick look at http://www.ethnologue.com , and found a
couple of pairs in the A's and B's:

Amba (Uganda)
Amba (Solomon Islands)

Bati (Indonesia)
Bati (Cameroon)

I'm sure that more could be found without too much trouble.

Dirk
--
Dirk Elzinga
Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

"I believe that phonology is superior to music. It is more variable and
its pecuniary possibilities are far greater." - Erik Satie