From: scerir (scerir@libero.it)
Date: Tue Sep 26 2000 - 15:48:22 MDT
Ludovico Bertonio in his "Arte de lengua Aymara" (1603)
described the Aymara language (still partially spoken by Indians
living between Bolivia and Peru) as endowed with an immense flexibility,
particularly adapted to the expression of abstract concepts.
The bolivian mathematician Ivan Guzman de Rojas discovered the
unusual properties of Aymara language in 1980. He was searching
for a new way to teach mathematics to Aymara children.
He got into trouble because he could not figure out Aymara logic.
He made a "truth table". The two-valued (true, false) algebra
did not work. He tried the three-valued (true, false, maybe). It worked.
There have been experiments to use Aymara to resolve problems
of computer translation. Unfortunately it has been demonstrated that
the Aymara language would not facilitate the computer translation,
because of its perfection and its modal subtleties.
Umberto Eco on perfect languages
http://www.italianacademy.columbia.edu/dream.htm
[Computer translation is puzzling. If I write down the first
statement of the italian constitution "L'Italia è una repubblica
fondata sul lavoro" from the Altavista translator I get "Italy
is one republic founded on the job". If I write "You must
remember this: a kiss is just a kiss" I get some italian
translation and if I try to translate this one, again, in english
I get "You must ricordarsi of this, a kiss you are right a kiss"]
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