| صفحات الموضوع: [1 2 3] > | Can one language be better than another? ناشر الموضوع: Wendy Cummings
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Wendy Cummings 
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Local time: 13:28
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The other night my boyfriend and I entered into a debate over whether one language can be better than another. My point was that no, it can\'t. Firstly, I tried to define better, and this meant working out the purpose of language. I decided this was communication, ie - a good language is one that communicates the message. Therefore, as all languages communicate (regardless of how fast, how prettily or with how many words) a message equally well, no one language is inherently better than another.... See more The other night my boyfriend and I entered into a debate over whether one language can be better than another. My point was that no, it can\'t. Firstly, I tried to define better, and this meant working out the purpose of language. I decided this was communication, ie - a good language is one that communicates the message. Therefore, as all languages communicate (regardless of how fast, how prettily or with how many words) a message equally well, no one language is inherently better than another. I agreed that one language could be faster than another, or more embellished than another, even easier to learn than another, all depending on context, but not plain \'better\' than another.
My Boyfriend heatedly rejected this argument, saying that the point of language was survival through and fast efficient communication (As opposed to writing, say, which is a slower form). He said that you cannot disregard context and therefore maintained that a language that uses fewer words and/or is more precise about the subject is better than another. He quoted for example the fact that Russian does not distinguish between the tenses \'it was\' and \'it had been\', concluding that therefore Russian was a worse language than English because it couldn\'t communicate this idea. I countered saying it uses context and other means to communicate perfectly adequately.
This argument lasted for some hours (and some bottles of wine) and we finally agreed to disagree. I would however be extremely interested in hearing other people\'s views on this point, and any other arguments that may arise. Is there a language hierarchy? And if so, who is at the top?
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| | | | | There is not a "better language" | May 14, 2003 |
There are no linguistic grounds to support the idea that one language is better than another.
Regarding speed, it is a cultural bias to say that \"faster is better\", given that all languages commmunicate whatever is necessary to convey in their cultures in the way that is suitable for each context. And, as cultures change, languages adapt to these modifications.
For an informative intro to the debate see \"Some Languages are Just Not Good Enough\", by... See more There are no linguistic grounds to support the idea that one language is better than another.
Regarding speed, it is a cultural bias to say that \"faster is better\", given that all languages commmunicate whatever is necessary to convey in their cultures in the way that is suitable for each context. And, as cultures change, languages adapt to these modifications.
For an informative intro to the debate see \"Some Languages are Just Not Good Enough\", by Ray Harlow, in _Language Myths_. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Sinthetic languages like English are more powerful | May 14, 2003 |
Being portuguese & trying to convert Eng>Por for now quite a few years I have to confess that Eng. is reacher & simpler than most other languages,(mostly latin that I know) especially in technical matters.This is evident whenever I have to convert a given number of words of a text into my native language.But if we compare the tenses of verbs, for instance, Por. comes up as a winner for it is reacher than Eng. So in conclusion: for this era, in which technology is gradually becoming more & more p... See more Being portuguese & trying to convert Eng>Por for now quite a few years I have to confess that Eng. is reacher & simpler than most other languages,(mostly latin that I know) especially in technical matters.This is evident whenever I have to convert a given number of words of a text into my native language.But if we compare the tenses of verbs, for instance, Por. comes up as a winner for it is reacher than Eng. So in conclusion: for this era, in which technology is gradually becoming more & more pervasive, your language is better prepared because it also belongs to countries far more advanced, technically speaking.
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| | | | | "better" can't be objective; | May 14, 2003 |
it\'s just that some languages have (dis)advantages that other languages don\'t have. E. g. my language, German, has the disadvantage that often the verb or part of it has to be put at the end of the sentence, thus far away from the subject. This is a pain in the neck not only for interpreters, but also for people who want to write an elegant, understandable style.
On the other hand German has lots of shades of meaning which often get lost when I translate into e. g. Italian. So ...
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Mats Wiman
السويد
Local time: 14:28
عضو (2000)
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احياء لذكرى | Here is my prejudiced opinion | May 14, 2003 |
No language is the better but better is
French when you want to be sensual
Spanish when you want to be proud
German when you want to be technical
English when you want to summarize
Swedish when you want to sing to your schnapps
Best regards
Mats
[ This Message was edited by: MatsWiman on 2003-05-14 17:07]
| | | | | And Russian.... | May 14, 2003 |
Quote:
On 2003-05-14 17:06, MatsWiman wrote:
No language is the better but better is
French when you want to be sensual
Spanish when you want to be proud
German when you want to be technical
English when you want to summarize
Swedish when you want to sing to your schnapps
And Russian if you want to do all of these ![]() ... See more Quote:
On 2003-05-14 17:06, MatsWiman wrote:
No language is the better but better is
French when you want to be sensual
Spanish when you want to be proud
German when you want to be technical
English when you want to summarize
Swedish when you want to sing to your schnapps
And Russian if you want to do all of these  ▲ Collapse
| | | | Gerard de Noord
فرنسا
Local time: 14:28
عضو (2003)
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| Here is my prejudiced opinion too | May 14, 2003 |
No language is better but bette is:
Dutch when you want to be poetic.
I do admire English for its ability to describe new concepts.
Regards,
Gerard
| | | | | The best language | May 14, 2003 |
Of course there is one best language, one language which is superior for expressing all the nuances of human thought; is most suitable for poetry, technology, or anything else you want. All other languages are inferior, because they are incapable of full expression.
Which language is it?
It\'s your mother tongue.
Here\'s the viewpoint of an expert.
Some excerpts from Chapter 2, \"The equality o... See more Of course there is one best language, one language which is superior for expressing all the nuances of human thought; is most suitable for poetry, technology, or anything else you want. All other languages are inferior, because they are incapable of full expression.
Which language is it?
It\'s your mother tongue.
Here\'s the viewpoint of an expert.
Some excerpts from Chapter 2, \"The equality of languages\", in \"The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language\" by David Crystal:
\"It comes near to stating the obvious that all languages have developed to express the needs of their users, and that in a sense all languages are equal. (...) There may indeed be important differences in the structural complexity of language (...) But all languages are arguably equal in the sense that there is nothing intrinsically limiting, demeaning, or handicapping about any of them. All languages meet the social and psychological needs of their speakers, are equally deserving of scientific study, and can provide us with valuable information about human nature and society. (...)
\"There are, however several widely held misconceptions about languages which stem from a failure to recognize this point of view. The most important of these is the idea that there are such things as \'primitive\' languages -- languages with a simple grammar, a few sounds, and a vocabulary of only a few hundred words, whose speakers have to compensate for their language\'s deficiencies through gestures. (...)
\"The fact of the mater is that every culture which has been investigated, no matter how \'primitive\' it may be in cultural terms, turns out to have a fully developed language, with a complexity comparable to those of the so-called \'civilized\' nations. (...) There are no \'bronze age\' or \'stone age\' languages (...) All languages have a complex grammar: there may be relative simplicity in one respect (e.g. no word endings), but there seems always to be relative complexity in another (e.g. word position). People sometimes think of languages such as English as \'having little grammar\' because there are few word endings. But this is once again the unfortunate influence of Latin which makes us think of complexity in terms of the inflectional system of that language.
(...) \"At the other end of the scale from so-called \'primitive\' languages are opinions about the \'natural superiority\' of certain languages. Latin and Greek were for centuries viewed as models of excellence in western Europe because of the literature and thought which these languages expressed; and the study of modern languages is still influenced by the practices of generations of classical linguistic scholars.
\"The idea that one\'s own language is superior to others is widespread (...)
\"A belief that some languages are intrinsically superior to others is widespread, but it has no basis in linguistic fact. Some languages are of course more useful or prestigious than others, at a given period of history, but this is due to the preeminence of the speakers at that time, and not to any inherent linguistic characteristics.\"
[ This Message was edited by: GoodWords on 2003-05-16 22:10] ▲ Collapse
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Stephen Franke
الولايات المتحدة
Local time: 05:28
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| In view of such argumentativeness, you might consider getting a new boyfriend | May 14, 2003 |
Greetings.
Separarate from the merits of the good posts in this thread by other gracious member, here is an observation:
--- In view of his apparent argumentativeness, you might consider getting a new boyfriend.
HTH.
Regards,
Stephen H. Franke
| | | | elrubio
Local time: 14:28
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| Non esiste una lingua migliore delle altre | May 15, 2003 |
Non esiste una lingua migliore delle altre.
Si tratta solo di gusti personali; per qualcuno una lingua può essere più bella di un\'altra.
Per esempio è universalmente riconosciuto che l\'italiano parlato (oppure lo spagnolo) ha un suono molto piú gradevole di una lingua come l\'inglese (oppure il tedesco), che invece è una sequela di suoni sgradevoli.
| | | | | A good word for GoodWords who put in the good word | May 15, 2003 |
Quote:
On 2003-05-14 17:49, GoodWords wrote:
Of course there is one best language, one language which is superior for expressing all the nuances of human thought; is most suitable for poetry, technology, or anything else you want. All other languages are inferior, because they are incapable of full expression.
Which language is it?
It\'s your mother tongue.
... See more
Quote:
On 2003-05-14 17:49, GoodWords wrote:
Of course there is one best language, one language which is superior for expressing all the nuances of human thought; is most suitable for poetry, technology, or anything else you want. All other languages are inferior, because they are incapable of full expression.
Which language is it?
It\'s your mother tongue.
You have definitely found the very \'best\' language of them all. And I think everyone will agree. ▲ Collapse
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SimplyMe (X)
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I know this kind of discussion - my girlfriend and me recently had a quite similar one - with one difference: we agreed. 
After many years of working with English and German I reached no perfection - but I\'d like to draw the following conclusion:
English is not very precise. Impossible to determine if a word is a substantive oder a verb - if no context is available.
I believe that English is a \"... See more
| | | | | How I found out | May 16, 2003 |
Quote:
On 2003-05-14 17:49, GoodWords wrote:
Of course there is one best language, one language which is superior for expressing all the nuances of human thought; is most suitable for poetry, technology, or anything else you want. All other languages are inferior, because they are incapable of full expression.
Which language is it?
It\'s your mother tongue.
<... See more Quote:
On 2003-05-14 17:49, GoodWords wrote:
Of course there is one best language, one language which is superior for expressing all the nuances of human thought; is most suitable for poetry, technology, or anything else you want. All other languages are inferior, because they are incapable of full expression.
Which language is it?
It\'s your mother tongue.
Thanks \"writeaway\". I\'m glad you agree--not everyone does! I was inspired in my theory after talking with a Tunisian friend who assured me that the most highly developed language is Arabic, followed by French, and far below them, English. I said, \"But Najib, isn\'t that just because you learned them in that order? Arabic is your mother tongue, then you learned French, and finally English.\" This PhD scientist thought for a moment, and then said, somewhat puzzled, \"True, I learned them in that order, but of course that doesn\'t have anything to do with it.\" ▲ Collapse
| | | | | indo-european vs. asian | May 18, 2003 |
these languages are all indo-europeans (except Arabic)
probably English has the most words approx. 10 million
for me it sounds kinda synthetic but I like it though
asian languages apply different approach (I deduce it from Hungarian \'cause that\'s what I speak)
they are more fluid-like: no fixed word order
\'inherent linguistic characteristics\'
H. has 44 letters = 44 sounds
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