Re: Ancient conlang

Quoting Costentin Cornomorus <elemtilas@...>:

> --- John Cowan <cowan@...> wrote:
> > Paul Bennett scripsit:
> >
> > > For example, I am willing to bet that this
> > entire email message could be
> > > translated into any natlang, living or dead,
> > and it could be readily
> > > understood by any person reasonably fluent in
> > that language.
> >
> > Provided it had the necessary modern
> > vocabulary: there's no word for
> > "email" or "hominid" or "chimp" in Hittite.
>
> Circumlocutions. For "hominid", use "manlike";
> for "chimp" use "monkey".
>
> Email could be "lightning courrier" or similar.
The real question, I guess, is not whether the language has fixed terms for
the things, but if the speaker in question know of them. A user of any
modern "primitive" language is quite likely just to borrow the English words.

                                                         Andreas