Newsgroups: sci.lang
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From: iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Ivan A Derzhanski)
Subject: Re: One point against Esperanto
Message-ID: <D5ou9x.FnB@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK
References: <MRA.95Mar7235548@rhea.hut.fi> <D574LH.BG@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> <3joeqj$ht2@panix2.panix.com>
Distribution: inet
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 1995 12:49:07 GMT
Lines: 41

In article <3joeqj$ht2@panix2.panix.com> rcpj@panix.com (Pierre Jelenc) writes:
>In article <D574LH.BG@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>, Ivan A Derzhanski <iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>>Other such unfeminine words are _knabino_ `girl' and _virino_ `woman'.
>>
>Or such unmasculine words as "fra^ulo" or "kuzo".

Yes.

>Who cares?

I do.

Zamenhof obviously didn't.  Odd as that may be, it never occurred to him
that his famous espero of uniting all of mankind was vain because of the
simple fact that some would find his creation unappealing.

>Etymology is not meaning.

Then what's the point of an _a posteriori_ vocabulary?

>>(In Volapu"k sex-neutral words are indeed sex-neutral, and they
>>sound that way, too, not being derived from sex-marked words of
>>the source languages.) 
>
>And Volapu"k is as dead as ... Volapu"k.

Now it is my turn to ask, Who cares?  (That's not true, incidentally:
Volapu"k is not dead, although it has fewer speakers than Esperanto.)

>Not the best recommendation.

For what?  I'm not interested in recommending anything to anyone.
I'm interested in discussing the linguistic features of natural and
artificial languages, which is certainly a more appropriate subject
for sci.lang than talking about the EC school systems and such.

-- 
`"Na, na ... ah mean, *no wey*, wi aw due respect, ma lady," stammers Joe.'
Ivan A Derzhanski (iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk)    (J Stuart, _Auld Testament Tales_)
* Centre for Cognitive Science,  2 Buccleuch Place,   Edinburgh EH8 9LW,  UK
* Cowan House E113, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Pk Rd, Edinburgh EH16 5BD, UK
