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Does a Language with these Criteria Exist?

Discussion in 'XLN Watering Hole' started by AzemOcram, Sep 8, 2015.

?
  1. No

    2 vote(s)
    100.0%
  2. Yes (please give example in response)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. AzemOcram

    AzemOcram Executive

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    I have been pondering existence recently and thought how difficult it is to convey the majority of human thought accurately yet concisely in any of the languages I know.

    I know this is a Cities XL (and related games) fansite forum but I do not know of anywhere else to ask such a question.



    This language would have to have the following properties:
    1. Ease of recognizing subject (and object if applicable).
    This means there would need to be an easy way to tell if the speaker is referring to self (1st person singular), self-identified group (1st person plural), addressee (2nd person singular), multiple addressees (2nd person plural), an other (3rd person singular), or others (3rd person plural). There would also need to be an easy way to tell if the speaker is referring to something that is male (eg man), female (eg woman), gender-neutral (eg adult), or inanimate (eg shoe).

    2. Ease of reading, writing, and speaking
    This means each character should represent a single sound used in the speech of the word but most words should not be excessively long to write, the alphabet should not be excessively long, and the characters should not be excessively difficult to write unambiguously. Combinations of characters to represent different sounds is still allowed as long as it is consistent and does not result in excessively long words becoming common. Alteration of the characters to change the emphasis or pronunciation are also allowed as well as long as it is easy to write unambiguously. It also means that any human capable of written and spoken language should be capable of effectively using this language, even if it is only easy to teach as a first language.

    3. Ease of understanding meaning
    It must be possible to describe any human thought, to ever be conveyed to other humans, in this language accurately and unambiguously, even if non-language (such as a picture) must be used in conjunction in some cases. It must be efficient and easy to express most common thoughts, memories, and emotions in a manner understandable to other speakers of the language.



    Examples of failure by common languages:

    Gender:
    English: Each student must complete ____ (one's, his, her, their?) own assignments.
    Spanish: [El edificio] Es alto. ([The building] It's tall.)

    Number:
    English: I'm talking to you.

    Time:
    [some languages do not have tenses; Germanic and Romance languages do]

    Economy of language:
    [Spanish has many syllables to describe what can be easily described in far fewer syllables in other languages.]

    Economy of characters:
    [Chinese characters change meaning and pronunciation based on context. There are over 50,000 Chinese characters; a bare minimum of 2,000 is needed to read a newspaper]

    Ease of reading and understanding:

    compare ij to ÿ and ü to ii in most fonts, compare l to I to 1 in most fonts

    English has words like laugh, notion, and corps but can be understood through tough, thorough thought, though.



    Obscure and established constructed languages are fine, I just want to know if such a language exists. Thank you all in advanced for the help!

    --Ocram
     
  2. Big Meany Mean

    Big Meany Mean Executive

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    If I want to sell you something let's speak in English, but if you want to sell me something "dann sprechen wir Deutsch"
    Willy Brandt, German Chancellor

    There's not such a language like that...er, maybe Euskera(?
     
  3. royb 98

    royb 98 Elite

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    Esperanto maybe? It has gender, number, time, and it's quite efficient in both speaking and the alphabet, which it's easy to understand. Only the I could be mistaken for a 1 or an l, but one rarely does in my opinion.
     
  4. AzemOcram

    AzemOcram Executive

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    Esperanto with some Ido influence was just what I was looking for. Thank you all!
     

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