Re: POLITICS <G>: Trolls!

Nik Taylor writes:
 > Stephen DeGrace wrote:
 > > I'd think it would be something for the Navajo to be proud of,
 > > really... JMHO...
 >
 > >From what I've heard of the Navajo code-talkers, they are proud of it.
 >
 > Incidentally, I've heard it claimed that Navajo was used because its so
 > unique, and unlike any other language on Earth, but I'm sure that's an
 > urban legend of the same caliber as the 50,000 (or whatever the figure
 > is now) Eskimo words for snow.  :-)
 >

From what I remember from Singh's book, several Native American
languages were considered.  The principle factors considered were the
number of speakers available, the level of literacy among those
speakers, and the degree to which the language had not been studied by
foreign linguists.  Navajo had the largest population of speakers, but
was the least literate (IIRC).

Navajo _is_ pretty weird to an Indo-European (or Japanese) speaker,
but so are most Amerindian languages.  The Japanese found it difficult
enough just to transcribe the sounds.

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