Re: Ethnologue

 --- Christophe Grandsire skrzypszy:

> > Without getting in to an IAL discussion, does anyone else think
> > Ethnologue's latest inclusion of three auxlangs to be ... I dunno
> > ... a little odd?
>
> Just checked it. Oddness is the word indeed :)) .
Yes, odd indeed! Weird choice of languages. Well, since they have started with
Esperanto, Interlingua and Europanto, other IALs will follow quickly (Ido,
Glossa, Maggel)...

>   I say odd because it gives France as the country
> > where Esperanto and Interlingua are spoken.  I think it's great that
> > the two are included - as they are real spoken languages (merits and
> > demerits aside), but I think saying "France" is where they are
> > spoken is a little odd.  Why France?  Is there something the rest of
> > my fellow frogs aren't telling me?  Christophe??
>
> Not that I know of. France is not even the country where Esperanto is most
> successful!
Well, they had to place it somewhere, hadn't they? It would have been at least
strange it they had written "Kiribati".
Where are those languages most popular? AFAIK Esperanto would score well in
Eastern Europe, especially in the Baltic states.

> > What strikes me as even odder is its inclusion - at all - of
> > "Europanto."  Ethnologue says it's spoken in "European Union
> > buildings" in Brussels "for use among members of the European
> > Union."  Wasn't Europanto a parody and not meant to be serious?
>
> Well, the "creator" of Europanto claims that this language has been born
> naturally by people of different European languages having to work together
> in the European Union buildings, so it's not completely wrong. Although the
> Ethnologue seems to have taken it a bit *too* seriously for what it really
> is :)) .
Well, I have worked in those buildings myself, but never ever seen the
slightest trace of Euro-Creolization. The thing is, EVERYBODY working within
the European institutions knows French. It's the language of communication
there, and it helps that Brussels, Luxemburg, and Strasbourg are all located on
francophone territory. Of course, when you sit with a group of Dutch, Danish,
German, and Finnish colleagues, you might choose English or German, but the
norm is still French, and you just can't get away without it.

> But what shocked me was when they claimed that Esperanto had a dative suffix
> in -al, and that it had a genitive!! I really wonder who did this review,
> because it's certainly not done very seriously (on the other hand, the
> demographics are OK).
Yeah, but it's a pity there are no demographics for Interlingua.

> > I'm going to see if I can get the editors to consider adding
> > "Eamonglish."
>
> In this case they'll have to accept Christophrançais! ;))
Jan (fighting for recognition of Nederjans) ;)

=====
"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones

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