I am creating a programming language that supports native languages, I would love to release a version in this language. If any of you here is a native Icelandic speaker pls contact me and help me create a proper translation (https://citrine-lang.org/)! I'll send you a dictionary file that contains the translation strings (from everything like IF-ELSE to CREATEHASH and so on...)
Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
161–170 of 170 posts
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find the debate over English superseding other languages to be somewhat comical. On the one hand, sure, there are parts of different cultures being lost. But they're being replaced by possibly the best example there is of a language evolving over time due to power dynamics. The accusation is often leveled against American cultural imperialism. But the language being imposed isn't a Native American language...it isn…
But the language being imposed isn't a Native American language.. If a Frenchman shoots someone with a bullet made in Germany, would you say the victim was killed by a German? The origins of the language don't matter to the point being made, which is that having one's native language adopted by everyone else provides massive benefits in spreading one's culture and values, while weakening and even killing off others.…
>This is not the whole story, languages were and are created for the purpose of demarcating and separating a subculture from the majority.
This is also why the most hardcore language persevering fanatics tend to also be hardcore xenophobes.
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Yet, none of this content ever leaves the country. And whose fault is this? People enjoy Japanese media all over the world despite the language barrier. French media used to be very popular in my country, like for example Louis de Funès movies? Even Iceland produces media that's popular worldwide, like Lazy Town or Bjork.
Is there any pair of countries (A, B) so that A != USA, B != USA, and A consumes more movies from B than from USA? I’d argue that no such pair of countries exists, except potentially ones with restricted media import rules, e.g. the pair of (North Korea, China).
There probably are (something like Sri-Lanka/India or Guatemala/Mexico), but even if there aren't, what is this supposed to indicate? Yes, USA has strong film industry, fueled by its strong economy and large population. American films are distributed worldwide and tend to be popular with people. There's no other country that can match USA in the sheer volume (maybe China and India). But when making a movie you don't need to compete with the entire country. You just need to produce something that's appealing to the audiences. Somebody from Bulgaria doesn't care if the movie is American or German made, it's going to be dubbed in Bulgarian anyway.
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
Language affects our thought process, so therefore the fewer languages there are in the world the more monotone the thought process of the world. I'm not saying there's any chance of saving the languages, we will most definitely end up with only one language somewhere in the next 200 years, I'm just pointing out that there's something we'll lose along the way.
This has come up a lot but do you have any examples where it's significant?
Yes the best everyday example is when you start to think in another language that you have learned, you cant easily translate those thoughts in your native language. Here's an old TED talk related that has some examples and here's one quote from it:
"Two English scientists were doing an experiment to do with genetics, and the forelimbs and hindlimbs of animals but they couldn't get the results they wanted, they really didn't know what to do, until along came a German scientist, who realized they were using 2 words for forelimb and hindlimb, whereas genetics and does not differentiate, and neither does German. So, bingo, problem solved. If you can't think a thought, you are stuck. But if another language can think a thought, you can learn and achieve so much more."
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's an analogy.
That's just not how language works. Gödel, Escher, Bach really hammered this home for me. Many ideas are easier to express in one language or another, to the point that they are practically inexpressible in another language. This is even true in math. Based on the set of axioms you allow, you can prove certain facts. A math with different axioms may have completely different theorems, and some observable real world b…
> That's just not how language works. Gödel, Escher, Bach really hammered this home for me. Many ideas are easier to express in one language or another, to the point that they are practically inexpressible in another language.
I am very skeptical that this happens commonly, or that the necessary terms couldn't be ported over to the common language if needed.
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there any pair of countries (A, B) so that A != USA, B != USA, and A consumes more movies from B than from USA? I’d argue that no such pair of countries exists, except potentially ones with restricted media import rules, e.g. the pair of (North Korea, China).
There probably are (something like Sri-Lanka/India or Guatemala/Mexico), but even if there aren't, what is this supposed to indicate? Yes, USA has strong film industry, fueled by its strong economy and large population. American films are distributed worldwide and tend to be popular with people. There's no other country that can match USA in the sheer volume (maybe China and India). But when making a movie you don't…
But that was exactly my point. The US movie industry is globally dominant, and through that, influencing other countries’ cultures.
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
There probably are (something like Sri-Lanka/India or Guatemala/Mexico), but even if there aren't, what is this supposed to indicate? Yes, USA has strong film industry, fueled by its strong economy and large population. American films are distributed worldwide and tend to be popular with people. There's no other country that can match USA in the sheer volume (maybe China and India). But when making a movie you don't…
But that was exactly my point. The US movie industry is globally dominant, and through that, influencing other countries’ cultures.
But the EU has a greater population than the US. I don't know anything about economics, but surely the EU as a whole is as strong as the US economy. So... why can't the EU create a movie industry that is as dominant as Hollywood?
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's just not how language works. Gödel, Escher, Bach really hammered this home for me. Many ideas are easier to express in one language or another, to the point that they are practically inexpressible in another language. This is even true in math. Based on the set of axioms you allow, you can prove certain facts. A math with different axioms may have completely different theorems, and some observable real world b…
> That's just not how language works. Gödel, Escher, Bach really hammered this home for me. Many ideas are easier to express in one language or another, to the point that they are practically inexpressible in another language. I am very skeptical that this happens commonly, or that the necessary terms couldn't be ported over to the common language if needed.
How would you translate this?
> Why can a man never starve in the Great Desert? Because he can eat the sand which is there. But what brought the sandwiches there? Why, Noah sent Ham, and his descendants mustered and bred.
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#169I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, yes, it's a pity to see a cultural artifact like a language fade away. I get that. But on the other hand, having the world Balkanized into thousands of mutually incomprehensible linguistic ghettoes is a bad thing, because it makes it harder to get things done on large scales. Things would just be easier if we spoke a manageable handful of languages.
It'd also be easier if everyone painted all their houses the same color, ate the same foods all the time, and lived in a universally cookie cutter world, but that'd be terribly boring. Culture is embedded into language, and suggesting that we should standardize on a handful of languages for the sake of convenience places very low (or maybe no) value on cultural preservation. As someone who's been working very hard fo…
> places very low (or maybe no) value on cultural preservation.
All the cultures that exist today will die, no matter what actions we take today. People see cultural continuation, but if we hopped in a time machine and went back 100 years, none of us would fit in.
I understand the urge to preserve things we appreciate, but it's not possible to preserve living things.
Re: Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That's just not how language works. Gödel, Escher, Bach really hammered this home for me. Many ideas are easier to express in one language or another, to the point that they are practically inexpressible in another language. I am very skeptical that this happens commonly, or that the necessary terms couldn't be ported over to the common language if needed.
How would you translate this? > Why can a man never starve in the Great Desert? Because he can eat the sand which is there. But what brought the sandwiches there? Why, Noah sent Ham, and his descendants mustered and bred.
It would not be a big loss if this sentence were never expressed. I allowed for edge cases in my previous comment, and this is such a one.