Re: 18th century tankards

On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:49:55 +0100, "Don Moody"
<dpmoody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Don Aitken" <don-aitken@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:fbllf3hg3tc0r961hqjdirh1pi1nu7bet2@xxxxxxxxxx
On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:49:38 +0100, "Don Moody"
<dpmoody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"John Cartmell" <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4f2877b052john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
There's something that always puzzles me when I read about people
reviving
extinct languages, especially if they died out before sound
recording became
possible. If there's no native speakers around, how on earth can
you learn
correct pronunciation? It can't be deduced simply from written
texts
(imagine coming to english after a couple of centuries when it's
not used by
anyone and trying to work out how to say even something as simple
as
"knight". How would you know that the "k" is silent?

It is much worse than that. Dead languages are, by definition, not
alive and changing to keep pace with the culture. We use words in
casual conversation now to describe things which did not exist a
decade ago and could not be imagined a century ago. So anybody
trying
to resurrect a dead language and pretend it has any use today has a
major problem.

The problems are undeniable, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.
Since a language confined to ritual and liturgical use is "dead" by
your definition, the obvious examples are Modern Hebrew and Latin.

What's the Latin for tunnelling electron microscope?

What's the Modern Hebrew for quantum mechanics?

Where would both be used nowadays in normal conversation between
scientists?

The Weizmann Institute in Tel Aviv, or any academic institution in
Israel.

Where, among the hoi polloi of the world, are those languages in
modern daily use?

Hebrew is used for all purposes in Israel, whether by hoi polloi or
anyone else. Large numbers of books are produced in it, including
scientific textbooks. It has all the vocabulary required for
communication in any situation, like any other living language.

Latin, I admit, is a more doubtful case. The Vatican still produces
all important documents in it, and Finnish Radio broadcasts regular
news bulletins in it, so the vocabulary is available. However, unlike
Hebrew, it is not the everyday means of communication for any
substantial group of people.

--
Don Aitken
Mail to the From: address is not read.
To email me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com"
.

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