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Re: THEORY: Aymara

From:Alex C. <lista2@...>
Date:Tuesday, November 23, 1999, 18:02
>I've heard (read, rather) that some people think it might be, or have >started out as, a conlang. I've also read that some people think it >would make a good interlanguage for computer translation.
Well, in fact, the pioneering in machine translation started in the 80's when the bolivian engineer Ivan Guzman-de-Rojas noticed that the traditional binary-logic patterns used in western languages were not fully suitable for "thinking" in Aymara. Guzman-de-Rojas said that he was trying to develop a method to teach mathematics to aymara children. When he realised the "normal" logic didn't work in Aymara he decided to understand the "aymara" logic system as a trivalent logic scheme, according to the works of the polish thinker J. Lukasiewicz that had published in 1920 a book with the title "On Trivalent Logic". The publication became the starting point for non-Aristotelian systems of logic. He also published "Philosophical Observations on Polyvalent Systems of Propositional Logic" in 1930. I won't try to explain the Guzman-de-Rojas thesis. I'll just say that he implemented a program he called ATAMIRI (translator, in Aymara) with wich he achieved a substantial development in the then-new machine translation discipline. According to Guzman-de-Rojas. The trivalent logic system is implemented in Aymara mainly through the existance of "Logical suffixes" that determine the logic structure of the statements which he demonstrates using the matrix method. The special logic system would make Aymara-based algorithms most suitable for machine translation. The results achieved by ATAMIRI in the translation of complex sentences ashtonished the experts in late 80's. Nowadays, I guess Atamiri is rather outdated and has been overcame by Natural-Language research. I think the last version of the program was released in the early 90's. Guzman-de-Rojas on Aymara Logical Suffixes: http://www.geocities.com/~arpasi/english/igr4.html Guzman-de-Rojas on Trivalent Logic: http://www.geocities.com/~arpasi/english/igr3.html Aymara Coded by mathenatician (NAT-LANG list message) http://nativenet.uthscsa.edu/archive/ng/93/0012.html
>So it's the absence of the 'normal' amount of odd structures (for a >natlang) that makes it stand out. (Well, some more than others. In >Hittite, for instance, even 'to be' is regular).
One of the reasons that lead some people to state that Aymara was a man-made language is its extreme regularity. In Aymara every verb has a regular conjugation. Even To Be (well, not really; the verb "to be" does not exist in Aymara). I'll just say that Aymara is a regular language. How are aymaras able to elude the language change through the ages? I mean, I gues this change would eventually produce irregularities, am I right?
>I've since gotten some more information on this. There is apparently >a local tradition among the Aymara that their language is in fact a >conlang. It is a matter of immense cultural pride, and that may be >part of the reason the language survived despite the near-complete >domination of the people by the Incas.
I've never heard of such tradition among the Aymara, I'm afraid. What I do know is that a catholic priest, Ludovico Bertonio, in 16** compiled the first grammar and vocabulary of the Aymara language. So far it's the best work ever written on this language and is the main source for the study of classical Aymara. Bertonio himself suggested that, ashtonished by the perfection and simplicity of the language, it seemed as if it was a conlang (he didn't use the word "conlang", I think).
>Of course, assuming that Aymara *was* a conlang, it, too, would >probably have been based on previously existing languages. Perhaps >that explains the similarities with Quechua? They got their ideas >from Quechua? :-)
The problem with Quechua is that it shares some features with Aymara. These features are mainly phonologic and lexical (well, they share the language-postulates philosophy in grammar too). As one of the conlangers in this list pointed, these resemblances take place between the Cusco-Quechua Dialect and the Aymara. Two geographical areas in contact, that is. The remaining quechua dialects are much less "aymarised" than Cusco. An opinion of my own: Perhaps the Guzman-de-Rojas view is too paternalistic to the Aymaras. The Aymara is a common language. It has nothing "magic" nor "extraterrestrial". It's just quite regular and simple. That's all. Greetings Alex C.