Science Forums 2

[UncleAl]

Why don't you begin by breaking language into its component primitive parts? Read some linguistics.

Vocabulary is fluid. It reflects the needs of its users. As an Engish speaker listening to two Chinese chemists jabbering abut organic chemistry, I am always mildy amused by how much "English" (technese, really) is in their conversation. Using acronyms as verbs is efficient: "We NMR'd the stuff" vs." we obtained a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of the stuff." The five tastes are salt, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami. That's what happens when your goverment allows another government to better fund research.

Grammar is not fluid. The obscenity of Ebonics (and to a much lesser extent, French) is that it cannot say something unambiguously. Try to find the French equivalent of "tepid" or "lukewarm."

English is an extremely sophisticated language. Latin can be written in any word order without losing meaning. The standard German joke is that all books can be written in two volumes, the second one containing all the verbs. English has traded severe self-reference amidst words for a much simplified grammar (without gender!) wherein meaning is also dependent upon word order and punctuation. English is an extraordinarily terse way of saying things exactly - if you know what you are doing.

Don't screw it up.