Re: OT: babel and english

andrew wrote:

> Am 08/20 22:05  Thomas R. Wier yscrifef:
>
> > This reminds me of the time when my friend, upon learning that
> > I conlang for sport, suggested that I translate Kant's _Critique
> > of Pure Reason_ into the eminently logical language of Degaspregos.
> > Thereupon a second friend said that wouldn't be too hard, since all
> > you'd have to do is have a maximally fusional language:  the entire
> > meaning of the Critique could be summed up in the word _po_
> > (I swear, my friends had not had any alcohol that evening!).
> >
> Yes, but does _po_ mean in Degaspregos?
Every word of the Critique of Pure Reason, naturally, from
"Die menschliche Vernunft hat..." to "... zur völligen Befriedigung
zu bringen".

(He was not suggesting that I use the *current* form of D., but
rather a D-prime which is essentially perfectly fusional, where
every possible statement is instantiated by a single morphologically
simplex word, therefore making it entirely, completely useless.
Taking the _Critique_ as one massive statement, it was their way
of teasing me for my "useless" hobby. These are the same people
who tease Kantians for believing someone who took Rousseau's
_Emile_ seriously, so much of their teasing is highly abstruse like this.)

===================================
Thomas Wier | AIM: trwier

"Aspidi men Saiôn tis agalletai, hên para thamnôi
  entos amômêton kallipon ouk ethelôn;
autos d' exephugon thanatou telos: aspis ekeinê
  erretô; exautês ktêsomai ou kakiô" - Arkhilokhos