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A review by bioniclib
In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build a Perfect Language by Arika Okrent
4.0
Until the 17th century math problems were written in prose. The operators (+ - / *) weren't used until then. Unsurprisingly, science took off as modern physics and calculus were born. (34)
I love how she chose the word "shit" to evaluate John Wilkins hierarchy of the universe as a way to create words. (Background in Chap 5 and the hunt is cheap 6)
According to Wilkins shit belongs to the classification of motion…it's called < a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/PBNQhBXk27ecuEY76'>dunging
Because each branch of the hierarchy is assigned a letter, the Wilkian word for shit was cepuhws. (57)
Roget's thesaurus classifies shit as a motion, too?! (66)
Charles Bliss and his Blisssymbolics language of combining symbols helped kids with Cerebral Palsy and other illnesses communicate for the first time, proving they were just as smart as others. Too bad Bliss was cuckoo-bananapants. (Chap 14)
One of the reoccurring impetuses for creating a universal language was how words in national languages can be used for evil, to twist meaning, to corrupt people. She cites the propaganda machines of Nazi German and Soviet Russian. (199-200)
Tolkien built his languages around aspects of the Finnish language he loved. (253).
The last chapter is on Klingon. Improbably one of the more successful invented languages. Unlike Esperanto, that was created by a Jew fleeing Nazi Germany as a hope to unify the world through language, Klingon has no grand purpose.
I love how she chose the word "shit" to evaluate John Wilkins hierarchy of the universe as a way to create words. (Background in Chap 5 and the hunt is cheap 6)
According to Wilkins shit belongs to the classification of motion…it's called < a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/PBNQhBXk27ecuEY76'>dunging
Because each branch of the hierarchy is assigned a letter, the Wilkian word for shit was cepuhws. (57)
Roget's thesaurus classifies shit as a motion, too?! (66)
Charles Bliss and his Blisssymbolics language of combining symbols helped kids with Cerebral Palsy and other illnesses communicate for the first time, proving they were just as smart as others. Too bad Bliss was cuckoo-bananapants. (Chap 14)
One of the reoccurring impetuses for creating a universal language was how words in national languages can be used for evil, to twist meaning, to corrupt people. She cites the propaganda machines of Nazi German and Soviet Russian. (199-200)
Tolkien built his languages around aspects of the Finnish language he loved. (253).
The last chapter is on Klingon. Improbably one of the more successful invented languages. Unlike Esperanto, that was created by a Jew fleeing Nazi Germany as a hope to unify the world through language, Klingon has no grand purpose.