Comments | manisfive: Lojban Scrabble

manisfive

Lojban Scrabble

Oct 29, 2007 23:26

Throughout the years, many linguists and other people with too much time on their hands have attempted to create new languages based on either (or both) logic or universal accessibility. Esperanto and Toki Pona are ready of examples of these (failed) attempts at the spread of a "superior" language.

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Comments 3

Toki Pona and Esperanto orzoisfashion October 30 2007, 12:53:37 UTC

Both of these languages have been surprisingly successful, actually. Esperanto especially. In a century when minority languages have been dying at a record pace, Esperanto has gained hundreds of thousands of speakers in more than a hundred countries. All without the help of an army, a world-girdling economy, or Hollywood. Nowadays you can even see the world on a shoestring with the Pasporta Servo.

Incidentally, no serious person claims that Esperanto is necessarily "superior" to others, at least not in a general sense. It is generally far easier to learn than other languages, however. Its internationality makes also makes it a much more democratic communications tool than ethnic languages, which put non-native speakers at a life-long disadvantage.

If you like Scrabble in non-English languages, you might like this site:

http://skrablo.ikso.net

Re: Toki Pona and Esperanto manisfive October 30 2007, 20:23:42 UTC

Very interesting...thanks for the info. I didn't know that Esperanto was actually spoken by so many people; maybe it's not such a pipe dream. There is hope for linguistic peace in the world?

Re: Toki Pona and Esperanto goulo October 31 2007, 03:30:11 UTC

Esperanto certainly works and is spoken by plenty of people (including as a primary home language for international couples). It is also genuinely much easier to learn than national languages, so in that sense it is a success (since that was one of its goals). It is a shame that most people automatically dismiss the idea and say "Why should I learn Esperanto when so few other people speak it?" It would save most of the world a lot of time and trouble and money spent wrestling with learning English and other unnecessarily difficult languages.