Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!otter!pdc
From: pdc@otter.hple.hp.com (Damian Cugley)
Newsgroups: comp.std.internat
Subject: Re: InterLanguages (was Re: All numeric representation of dates)
Message-ID: <3690002@otter.hple.hp.com>
Date: 8 Sep 88 11:41:03 GMT
References: <1401@spp2.UUCP>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK.
Lines: 48

I said (rashly):
> Esperanto often expresses concepts concisely that require complicated
> English phrases - random example: `IMHO' translates to `lau^ mi'.

Peter da Silva:				 peter@ficc.uu.net
> And in English it translates to 'I think'.

It wasn't a good example - I'm only a beginning Esperentist and `lau^
mi' (or `lauh mi'? `laux mi'?) was the first phrase that came to mind.

It *does* have different *connotations* from `I think' (and probably
from `IMHO' too {:-( ), however.  If I remember correctly,
`connotations' was the topic of discission.  There *are* better
examples.  (Honest! :-) ).

> And look, no diacriticals!

I've already said that the diacriticals are amongst Esperanto's worst
`features'.  I **WISH** Z. had had the sense to live up to his claim
that Esperanto would be easily spoken and written (and typed) by
*everyone*.  The `H^' sound (sounds like the `chi' in `TeX' ?:-) ) has all
but dissappeared but those silly accents will endure forever.

It's easy to say something u^ -> w, j^ -> j -> y, g^ -> dj, s^ -> sh, k
-> c -> ts, c^ -> tsh, h^ -> k but this violates La Fundamentoj and is
as much a waste of time (and risk of getting flamed) as suggesting C
change == -> = -> :=, && -> `and', || -> `or' etc.  We either stick with
the current dumb notation or create another language altogether.


> How does Esperanto compare to other universal languages (loglan?)? That's
> a better comparison.

I only know a little about other `interlanguages' - from what I've read
in Esperanto publications, mostly - but Esperanto has the largest
following, for what it's worth.  Various `improved' Esperanto-offshoots
have appeared and died and the original keeps on strong.

pdc
--
  /-------------------\/-------------------------\/------------------------\ 
  | Damian Cugley =@= || pdc@hplb.lb.hp.co.uk    || ...!mcvax!ukc!hplb!pdc |  
  | HPLabs Bristol UK || pdc%otter@hplabs.HP.COM ||   ...!hplabs!otter!pdc |  
  \-------------------/\-------------------------/\------------------------/  
  (#disclaim <net/std.h>       'Esperanto - la lingvo por sennacia fajrado')
                      (Feel free to correct my spelling, I'm dictionaryless)

> "Have you hugged your wolf today?" 
We used to have two German Shepards but we had to give them away. :-(