Re:Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
by sdhgaiojfsa on Saturday March 03, 2018 @10:16AM
(#16509568)
> That's just not how language works. Gödel, Escher, Bach really hammered this home for me. Many ideas are easier to express in one language or another, to the point that they are practically inexpressible in another language.
I am very skeptical that this happens commonly, or that the necessary terms couldn't be ported over to the common language if needed.
Re:Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
by BrandonM on Saturday March 03, 2018 @02:16PM
(#16510969)
How would you translate this?
> Why can a man never starve in the Great Desert? Because he can eat the sand which is there. But what brought the sandwiches there? Why, Noah sent Ham, and his descendants mustered and bred.
Re:Icelandic language battles threat of 'digital extinction'
by sdhgaiojfsa on Tuesday March 06, 2018 @12:07PM
(#16530136)
It would not be a big loss if this sentence were never expressed. I allowed for edge cases in my previous comment, and this is such a one.
This is even true in math. Based on the set of axioms you allow, you can prove certain facts. A math with different axioms may have completely different theorems, and some observable real world behavior can be better modeled under one set of axioms than another.
Language could be described as a math for personal expression and everyday life, and each language has its own axioms and theorems.