Re: I may not be a bearded, left-handed, gay Lithuanian, but...

On 5/30/06, Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
> Even if you don't actually remember
> enough of what you've studied to say "hi" to the next ancient Etruscan
> you meet...
Heh... speaking of ancient Etruscans, I occasionally wonder what would
happen if a couple of inhabitants of someone's conworld were somehow
stranded on Earth and tried to make contact with that person -- how
well the language's "creator" would be able to converse with these
travellers :)

Would he have to stop at "hello"? Be able to converse slowly but have
to reach for his dictionary frequently? Be able to carry on a fluent
conversation?

Not to mention - would he seize the opportunity and squeeze those
informants for all they're worth? :) "I've always wondered how to
express <construction>; I've thought of <alternatives A, B, and C>,
but none of them feels satisfactory. What *is* the way that it's
expressed in <language>?" or "What's the difference between <two words
that have the same English gloss, for some reason or other>?" are just
two things that come to my mind.

Cheers,
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>