Re: Language superiority, improvement, etc.

Charles wrote:

> OK, there is a real political problem with that line
> of thought; races really are equal. Nonetheless ...
It would be more exact to say that "race" does not exist except
as a social construct in certain societies.  Skin tone exists, and
so do genetic differences, but each ethnos contains about 80%
of the genetic diversity of the entire human gene-pool.

> I once mentioned J. Guy's observations about Sakao
> and Tolomako (or some such language pair) where one
> was clearly better than the other in every respect.
I believe he said "simpler", not "better".  He was trying to
refute the typical Big Linguistics claim that all languages
are equally *complex*, which is quite different from any
aesthetic or functional criteria.

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)