In Chinese, the word computer translates directly as electric brain.
In Icelandic, a compass is a direction-shower, and a microscope a small-watcher.
In Lakota, horse is literally dog of wonder.
These neologisms demonstrate the cumulative quality of language, in which we use the known to describe the unknown.
“It is by metaphor that language grows,” writes the psychologist Julian Jaynes. “The common reply to the question ‘What is it?’ is, when the reply is difficult or the experience unique, ‘Well, it is like — .’”
That metaphorical process is at the heart of Toki Pona, the world’s smallest language. While the Oxford English Dictionary contains a quarter of a million entries, and even Koko the gorilla communicates with over 1,000 gestures in American Sign Language, the total vocabulary of Toki Pona is a mere 123 words.
Yet, as the creator Sonja Lang and many other Toki Pona speakers insist, it is enough to express almost any idea. This economy of form is accomplished by reducing symbolic thought to its most basic elements, merging related concepts, and having single words perform multiple functions of speech.
In contrast to the hundreds or thousands of study hours required to attain fluency in other languages, a general consensus among Toki Pona speakers is that it takes about 30 hours to master. That ease of acquisition, many of them believe, makes it an ideal international auxiliary language — the realisation of an ancient dream to return humanity to a pre-Babel unity. Toki Pona serves that function already for hundreds of enthusiasts connected via online communities in countries as diverse as Japan, Belgium, New Zealand, and Argentina. More.
See: Business Insider
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Comments about this article
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:07
English to Icelandic
+ ...
ÁTTAVITI, does NOT translate as DIRECTION SHOWER, BUT DIRECTION(AL) BEACON/LIGHTHOUSE.
Another made up language, that can fit on a card, is ESPERANTO,
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:07
French to English
+ ...
It sounds ... See more
It sounds like the language is evolving already. Surely it won't stay at 123 words for long! ▲ Collapse
Ghana
Local time: 16:07
Japanese to English
That is very much the point. One of the main reasons why people want to communicate with other people is so they can sell them stuff. "Many, many dollars" won't cut it when you're trying to hock your new iPaws.
Israel
Local time: 19:07
Romanian to English
+ ...
Still in current use nowadays, the Gematria Hebrew number notation system doesn't even need names for numbers/numerals - 27 glyphs of the alphabet are used as "numerals" for 1-9, 10-90 and 100-900 (and once again for thousands of) in the order of the alphabet to express any positive integer. In speech, one just utters the names of the respective letters/glyphs in a top-down manner. the numeral for zero is not needed in this system.
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