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Re: The Forbidden Expariment

From:Grandsire, C.A. <grandsir@...>
Date:Wednesday, November 24, 1999, 15:07
Alex C. wrote:
> > Well, many of you are perhaps bold conlangers lucky enought to have just > a conlanger as husband/wife.
Actually in the list I know only of Boudewijn and Irina Rempt who are happily married and both conlangers.
> I admit I'd love to marry a conlang-freak > lady but I've never met one "in real life". I'm not married nor have > children but I guess some of you share your lives with conlang-loving > partners and have thought on the possibility of performing what I call > "the forbidden experiment". I know this sounds somewhat like "final > solution" or a Dr. Mengele experience but it's nothing to do with that. > In ancient times the forbidden experiment consisted in keeping a baby > away from human presence and see whether a sort of innate behaviours > arise. That is, when we speak about language, to see if the child starts > speaking a sort of non-taught language. The reason why this experiment > is regarded as forbidden is obvious. >
I've heard that it had once been performed long ago (maybe during the Middle Ages) and that the results had been that all children had died by stopping to eat. Seems like communication is vital for life (maybe it's only a legend though).
> I have a new version of the FE (Forbidden Experiment). I wonder whether > any of you has thought about teaching his/her conlang to his/her baby > (apart from the national language, of course). I wonder if any of you > has decided to achieve a "different" family in this way. I can see my > son asking if he can go out with girls... in lojban!! (for example) >
I know that there are Esperantist families where children are raised with Esperanto as a first language. Those children are called "denaskaj Esperantistoj" (Esperantists from birth) and are considered to be some 2000 in the world.
> I guess I should call my psychotherapist >
Or the nearest local dictator, he may find the experiment interesting (I speak of the Forbidden one). OK, very black humour... Maybe I should talk of your idea to my boy-friend: he IS psychotherapist :) .
> Alex C.
-- Christophe Grandsire Philips Research Laboratories -- Building WB 145 Prof. Holstlaan 4 5656 AA Eindhoven The Netherlands Phone: +31-40-27-45006 E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com