Re: Classical languages: was: Re: Gothic language

Boudewijn Rempt wrote:

> On Wed, 25 Aug 1999, Danny Wier wrote:
>
> >
> > I agree.  In a very limited sense standard Latin as used by everyone from
> > the Pope to the family doctor is a "conlang", but only in the sense of being
> > an ancient language engineered, artificially controlled, to be used in
> > modern contexts.  Latin is no more a conlang than Modern Hebrew, Standard
> > Arabic, or the Sanskrit used by the Sanskrit-speaking community of India.  I
> > would even say that Proto-Indo-European is more a conlang really, though
> > hardly _a priori_ like Klingon.
>
> I've objected before to the tendency of classifying all classical
> languages as 'conlangs' - even though prescriptive grammars abounded,
> and some even had a measure of authority, not even Panini could arrest
> the development of Sanskrit. I'd say all these languages, from Latin
> to Sanskrit, from Nahuatl to Classical Chinese are just perfectly natural
> natlangs - nobody has has ever tried and succeeded in consciously controlling
> them.
Well, I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that classical languages
*are* conlangs in the sense we use them here.  I think linguists in general
are accustomed to a broader understanding of "constructed" (one that
might include but is not limited to creating languages as a hobby), in which
anything that doesn't really correspond to the spoken language of any one
group of language users is artificial, in a sense.  I agree with Danny, that
their use of "constructed" has more to do with the creation of a standard
language than it does with our just having fun with words.

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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and
oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil
spirits at the dawn of day. - Thomas Jefferson
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