Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site eosp1.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!princeton!eosp1!robison From: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) Newsgroups: net.ai,net.nlang Subject: Re: Re: Sanskrit (actually natural languages deficiencies) Message-ID: <1233@eosp1.UUCP> Date: Mon, 5-Nov-84 18:11:18 EST Article-I.D.: eosp1.1233 Posted: Mon Nov 5 18:11:18 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 6-Nov-84 05:30:55 EST References: <12582@sri-arpa.UUCP> <12300003@uicsl.UUCP> <194@oliveb.UUCP> <189@scc.UUCP> Reply-To: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) Organization: Exxon Office Systems, Princeton Lines: 32 Xref: princeton net.ai:332 net.nlang:203 Summary: NOTE: This memo contains a SPOILER regarding one of Peter Dickenson's novels!!!!!!! I think it's silly to talk of deficiencies, but to those who worry about a language that is "deficient": what happens when the native speakers of that language are asked to deal with the inability of their language to express something? Many languages easily adapt and fill in the deficiency. Most European languages easily borrow words as needed from each other, and even grammatical constructions. I'm going to use "gezellig" at the next genuine opportunity, now that I have some idea of what it means. Peter Dickenson has a fascinating novel (sorry, as usual I can't give the name) in which a linguist is dealing with an Aboriginal tribe that, as a feature of their language, cannot express things that are contrary to fact. He is eventually taken prisoner by them, and his method of escape is to attack their system of witchcraft. He utters the statement: "there is no witching", which is comprehensible by the aborigines, but forces them to consider the possibity that although they can discuss witchcraft, it may not actually exist. He does this with great regret, KNOWING THAT IT WILL CHANGE THE LANGUAGE AND THE CULTURE. I'm mentioning all this here to support a simple point -- languages can adapt. If a language is incapable of expressing something, perhaps it never really needed to. When it has to, perhaps it will. - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison or: decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison or (emergency): princeton!eosp1!robison