Date: Mon, 1 Jun 1998 09:38:05 +0100 From: "Nigel Hurneyman" <nhurneyman@onemeaning.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1873$foo@default> Subject: Re: Why Use Latin
Automatic language translators are starting to reach a reasonable state
- our boffins recently translated the company home page into Japanese
and back again and although some of the words used were 'interesting' it
was still possible to get the sense. The biggest problem with English
is that so much of meaning is context dependent - for example people of
most ages would agree that the singer Michael Jackson is wicked, but
with a range of meanings from approval to condemnation. Botanical Latin
would largely be free of such problems as its usage is very narrow - it
ought to be possible to write an automatic Botanical Latin translator
which would translate 90% of the content of 90% of all botanical
descriptions to or from eg English very quickly. Unfortunately there
would be no synergy with classics scholars as Botanical Latin is to
classical Latin approximately what millenium American is to 17th century
English - Botanical Latin isn't a dead language! A large proportion of
old descriptions are in invalid and/or ambiguous Botanical Latin, but
this would be a problem whatever language is used. Perhaps the answer
lies in something like Jan's magnificent Drosera Key with descriptions
encrypted as a set of language independent criteria and measurements.
Apologies for the long-windedness, NigelH
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