Nicholas Hempshall | Re: [LFN] Solo de Stelas III

• Autor: Nicholas Hempshall (“nick_hempshall”)
• Tema: Re: [LFN] Solo de Stelas III
• Data: 2005-05-09 22:45
• Mesaje: 1160 (a supra, presedente, seguente)

> Vere, me pensa ce la regulas ta ave ce resta simple
> como la claria demande.
> La lecsicon es otra cosa. La parolas ave ce tradui
> la sentia de la
> parlantes, en se grados e nuanses.
> En solo de stelas, no es multe nonfasil mantener
> acel ce la autor vole
> parlar cuando me ententa far la tradui a LFN.

With regard to the number of words or roots to be used
in an I.A.L. there are two conflicting principles,
both of which are legitimate within certain limits,
but which should neither of them be carried to excess,
the principle of precision and the principle of
economy.

According to the former an I.A.L. should be capable of
rendering all shades of thought found in the national
languages. As each of these expresses several nuances
which are incapable of exact rendering in all other
languages, it is clear that the ideal as thus
formulated is beyond human power. It will also be
found that those who set forth this claim generally
have in view only certain nice distinctions that are
found in their own, or perhaps one more language known
to them, and which appears to them indispensable,
while they are not considering the burden thus laid on
all the rest of mankind who have never felt the need
of those particular nuances. Let me translate here a
note I inserted in Progreso (February 1911): "I should
like very earnestly and emphatically to insist on an
important point, before it is too late: do not let us
create too many special words to distinguish nuances
that are not absolutely necessary. I think there is a
danger in the increasing tendency in that direction.
It is easy to understand that nuances can often be
necessary or desirable, even where many languages are
unable to express them; but many of the proposed
nuances can only serve to make the language difficult
without any real advantage. (I then give as example
the proposal to have three verbs for `to tame': domtar
leoni, amansar uceli (birds), domestikigar elefanti,
and I conclude:) If one goes on to increase the bulk
of the dictionary in that way, I humbly ask people to
cease printing over and over again the phrase about
`easiest for the greatest number' which I wrote
unsuspectingly a couple of years ago." Even now some
interlinguists look upon it as their principal task to
multiply words without regard to the convenience of
users.

The opposite principle of economy was practised by
Zamenhof more than by anyone else. The number of roots
admitted in primitive Esperanto was extremely small,
and a good deal of ingenuity was used to express as
much as possible by means of compounds and
derivatives. Foremost of the means employed must be
mentioned mal- to denote the opposite: malbona bad,
maldekstra left, maldolcha bitter, malsato, hunger,
etc. Other examples: kreskajho plant (properly `thing
growing', as if nothing but plants were capable of
growing), irilo stilt (`instrument for going'),
pafilego cannon (`big tool for popping'), fajrero
spark (`unit of fire'), senkulpigi excuse (`make to be
without fault'), vagonaro train (`collection of
cars'). Each of these has of course to be learnt
separately just as well as special independent words,
though they have the advantage, when once learnt, to
be firmly associated with well-known ordinary words.
There is no doubt that the great number of these
rebus-words, together with the "masquerading" of
several words from the best-known languages, has
deterred many intelligent people from Esp, and
incidentally from the idea of an I.A.L. in general.

Both principles are thus faulty when carried through
one-sidedly: we must steer between them as between
Scylla and Charybdis.

(Otto Jespersen in AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE (1928))

Discover Yahoo!
Have fun online with music videos, cool games, IM and more. Check it out!
http://discover.yahoo.com/online.html