Re: Langauge Constets (was Natural Semantic Metalanguage)

Gary Shannon wrote:

> quoting Richard Kennaway:
>> I'm reminded of a series of competitions Edward de Bono set in the
>> columns of a long-deceased science magazine called Science Journal,
>> back in the 60's.  One of them was to design a language containing
>> not more than twenty words.  I remember few details, though, and I
>> don't know of those columns being published in a more lasting form.
>> But it might be interesting to try the same idea here.
> It seems like the sponsor of such a contest would have to be
> careful about defining just how complete the language needs to be
> to qualify. Do we need to be able to discuss abstract philosophical
> concepts, or is it enough that we can use the language to command
> the family dog to do a dozen tricks?
I think if enough derivational morphemes are allowed, it should be
possible to create a fully usable language from much less than 20
words. If mathematics can be derived from just two entities, 0 and 1,
why not a speaking language? I think the words 'here' and 'there' are
a good place to start,

LEF

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