Friday, May 25, 2007

Kiel vi fartas?



That’s Esperanto for how are you. I was introduced to this new, first artificially created language today. It was developed around 1880 by a gentleman from Poland.

I find the idea of creating a language from scratch interesting. Though I am sure it would borrow from a lot of different languages and sources, it will obviously be bereft of all trappings of history and etymology. This of course, would be boon and a bane.


How can language be developed from logic and algorithms – unless it is a computer language. It has to live and evolve from cultures; it has to create its own feel which in turn would be rooted in the place where it lives. A language divorced from culture will be insipid, dry and will eventually wither away. Considering that Esperanto in its 125 plus years of existence has less than a couple of million speakers, that’s what is happening to it. Notwithstanding a full length movie produced in the language starring William “Star Trek” Shatner.

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