Can Esperanto Make a Comeback? (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: Can Esperanto Make a Comeback? (2015)

#231

Post by def_true_false » Tue, Oct 20, 2020, 1:56 PM UTC

crispyambulance wrote: post #158

def_true_false wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but why do we have to use a character set that can only cleanly represent sounds made by the Romans of 2500 years ago?

We use the "character set" our parents and our culture gave us. It does the job as well as any other character set, because language is not merely a tool, like a set of bits for your screwdriver. It's a part of your identity and your place in the world. You can, of course, pick up other languages and with effort use them either skillfully, or just pragmatically. But no one will ever feel that Esperanto is "their" lan…

I don't feel English is "my" language, either. It's a language I use, more than my native one, even... but that doesn't necessarily mean I think it's perfect. The point is that its textual representation is lossy.

Re: Can Esperanto Make a Comeback? (2015)

#232

Post by def_true_false » Tue, Oct 20, 2020, 2:28 PM UTC

kwhitefoot wrote: post #93

def_true_false wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Updating the ortography once in a while would take care of most of the problems. There are real languages that have successfully made "updates" to reflect the shifts in pronunciation, or the usage of additional sounds (compared to Latin), unlike English.

> "updates" to reflect the shifts in pronunciation, Which pronunciation will you choose? If you are a prescriptive linguist from Newcastle you will presumably expect everyone to use a short a in 'castle' but someone from the south would use a long a. And which language do you have in mind when you imply that there are languages that are pronounced in the same way by all of its speakers? Anyway, there is no Academy in…

> And which language do you have in mind when you imply that there are languages that are pronounced in the same way by all of its speakers?

That is not a requirement for updating the orthography or even the spelling. It also wasn't a requirement for introducing the writing system, print, etc. I doubt English has ever been pronounced the same way everywhere and likewise for any other language. Regional differences in spoken language did not stop e.g. Germany from updating its textual representation.

Funnily enough, your example looks perfectly readable to me. I'd guess it would be about as hard to read for English native speakers as Dutch is. It needs a few fixes (rivized -- only the first one should be an i, etc), but something like that would definitely be an improvement over current spelling.

Re: Can Esperanto Make a Comeback? (2015)

#233

Post by bluedevil2k » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 10:23 PM UTC

Koshkin wrote: post #226

bluedevil2k wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s how language has worked throughout history. Alexander the Great spread Greek. Rome spread Latin.

Alexander the Great was a mass murderer; Rome was fascist.

One of the worst comments I’ve seen on HN

Re: Can Esperanto Make a Comeback? (2015)

#234

Post by anewguy9000 » Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 4:49 PM UTC

mythrwy wrote: post #145

anewguy9000 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

english is the language of the oppressor

And yet, here you are using it to express that sentiment. Kind of a catch 22 or strange irony about this, but I suppose that is true of the entire philosophical viewpoint being expressed.

in my neck of the woods we call this sort of strange irony humor