Re: OT: Origin of names (WAS: Re: Proto-Uralic?)

Christophe Grandsire sikyal:

> >   It
> >would open up a whole new a-posteriori Conlanging field.  And what would be
> >even weirder is if we had another species as intelligent as us sitting right
> >under our noses, and we never realised it.
>
> Actually, it's been quite a while that we know that. The only problem is
> that the people telling about the impressive intelligence of dolphins were
> not taken seriously. After all, there just *couldn't* be another
> intelligent species on Earth but us (also, for long people have considered
> that intelligence had to do with the ability to create and use tools,
> something that by definition dolphins cannot do - difficult without hands -).
This is very true, and outrageous, when you think about it. How much
evidence of Dolphin sentience will we need before we release the captives
that we have, outlaw their murder, and protect their rights?

I would love for the dolphin language to be deciphered. The linguistic
possibilities it would open up are staggering, not to mention the
cultural, religious, and philosophical conversations we might have. (This
is assuming, of course, that the dolphins are willing to talk and have
something interesting to say.)


Jesse S. Bangs jaspax@u.washington.edu
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/blog

Jesus asked them, "Who do you say that I am?"

And they answered, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground
of our being, the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our
interpersonal relationship."

And Jesus said, "What?"

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