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Re: LUNATIC again

From:Sally Caves <scaves@...>
Date:Tuesday, November 3, 1998, 22:15
On Tue, 3 Nov 1998, John Cowan wrote:

> Auxlangers as a rule want to make such changes in the world: > specifically, they want an auxlang, either already existing or soon to > be created, to become a widely spoken second language. > > Rightly or wrongly, the perception is that there is at most > one slot for such a thing, so if "my" auxlang "succeeds", then > by definition "your" auxlang "fails". So far all have "failed".
Thank you John... I don't know why I didn't see this OBVIOUS point, and Bryan has put it a little more beerishly, ;-) but it generates a new question. We've got Esperanto going along, and Occidental, and now Lojban and NGL... say that NGL gets ironed out to perfection some day amongst its members, and having visited its page I realize that it doesn't consider itself as an auxiliary language but as a primary language for the modern world: Will there then be a competition for that one slot among these improved languages? What if (science fiction) all of them catch on equally? Aren't we back where we started with multiple improved languages? ;-) The requirement that there has to be ONE lingua franca language for the world to speak seems a little severe, and one that would be hard to keep track of. Then what would happen if different branches develop as is inevitable in all developing languages? Latin really worked as a lingua franca way back when, but it was adopted because it was the language of a literature and a culture that was already in existence, and already had attached to it a certain prestige, and a body of classical and religious texts that made studying it worthwhile. Also, students were beaten if they didn't conform to the grammatical standards of the language. We don't do that now. But if there were TEXTS out there that made it imperative that the nations of the world unite around them, I could see the creation of a new lingua franca. But starting from the language end of it... it's just not going to work. There has to be a more enticing incentive. What is that going to be? I am sure all of this is completely old hat to you auxlangers, and that's why few of you are jumping to answer my queries. Sally ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sally Caves Li fetil'aiba, dam hoja-le uen. volwin ly, vul inua aiba bronib. This leaf, the wind takes her. She's old, and born this year. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++