Re: History of constructed languages

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Brown" <ray.brown@...>

> Actually, i have been thinking and wondering why Pluto would use corrupted
> Hebrew. Greek would be more likely. The were Greek speaking areas of south
> Italy. I suppose it is not improbable that Dante had heard (maybe second
> hand) some southern Italian Greek, and was trying to imitate the sound of
> it, as he perceived it.
> Another possibility is that it is simply some infernal jargon made up of
> scraps of different natlangs of the denizens of Hell, in a similar way
> that the Lingua Franca of the Levantine seaports was made up from the
> natlangs of its various speakers.
As for Nimrod, throw in a few final "ch"s and a couple of "z"s, and the
medieval populace will *believe* it's Hebrew.  This works for many of the
incantations I've come across.  Same with Pluto, I guess, although the words
seem more recognizable.

BTW, there are some intrusions of Hebrew in the Paradiso: Canto VII: 1-3:

Osanna, sanctus Deus sabaoth,
superillustrans claritate tua
felices ignes horum malacoth.

[Can't get the accent marks, sorry).

Now sabaoth is Kabbalistic, isn't it?  One of the 72 Divine Names?  I
recognize it from Moshe Idel's _Kabbalah_.  I don't know about malacoth.  Is
that made up?

Go here

http://dante.ilt.columbia.edu/books/cambr_com/cc10.html

For an excellent discussion of all the neologisms in Dante's Paradiso.
Apparently he makes some of the words up, like teodia, 25:73.

Sally

> ===============================================
> On Saturday, April 9, 2005, at 09:17 , Sally Caves wrote:
>> Yes I do know. ;)  CONTEXT!  I was referring to *myself,* bringing up
>> this
>> topic on the very day of John Paul II's funeral.  On other lists, this
>> has
>> been a very heated issue,
>
> How very sad! Glad I'm on this list.
Yes! :)

>> and I wanted to tread carefully.
>
> I assure you that your original email caused me no offense. But your
> concern is much appreciated.
I'm so glad!

Sally

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