Re: Language comparison

On Friday, January 7, 2005, at 08:23 , Sai Emrys wrote:

> For everyone who jumped at me for mentioning "primitive": it was in
> quotes. It was intended as an ironic use - as in, these are languages
> that some people have considered *quote-unquote* "primitive", and
> hence the overcompensative backlash in the direction of considering
> *all* languages (even ones as yet unmade) equal.
Eh? But the myth of "primitive" African languages was exploded over a
century ago. What is this "overcompensative backlash"? When is it supposed
to have occurred?

You said in the mail that prompted this thread (which I am not enjoying):
"My hypothesis: some human languages are better than others."

I assumed, as it seems others did, that by 'human language', you meant the
natural languages that humans speak (and write) or have spoken in the past
(e.g. Latin, Etruscan, Sumerian etc). But such languages are not _made_ -
they evolve and, indeed, those currently being used on our planet are
evolving & changing all the time.

If however you mean all languages of human origin, whether naturally
evolved or made as the result of deliberate creation (e.g. computer
'languages', conlangs) then I do not think anyone would disagree with your
hypothesis.

Also I naively assumed you meant 'better linguistically'. It has become
apparent during this thread that your criteria are not all linguistic. Of
course if we take other factors into account we can say that one natural
language is better for certain purposes than another. For example, English
is much better than Basque if we wish to reach an international audience.
But that is to do with political & economic factors - it has nothing to do
with language per_se.

[snip]
> Oy. I'm getting the impression that before posting anything here, I
> should make sure that any subtleties are very, very clearly specified,
I have found bt experience that subtleties do not carry at all well in
emails - we cannot see the body language or hear changes in tone of voice,
  both of which help in direct communication. Also there are bound to be
cultural differences in a list where people from the whole planet
contribute. IMO it is better to be over-specific rather than
under-specific.

> along with tags to indicate where I'm being ironic.
Smileys are what we tend to use   :)

Ray
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ray.brown@freeuk.com
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Anything is possible in the fabulous Celtic twilight,
which is not so much a twilight of the gods
as of the reason."      [JRRT, "English and Welsh" ]

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