• Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
        0·
        9 months ago

        Enlightened linguists teach their children languages in chronological order, starting with sumerian and by the age of 7 finally reaching proto-indo-european and finally starting to be able to somewhat communicate with the rest of the world.

    • shneancy@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 months ago

      even better when you know that we don’t even know how it sounded. Ancient Egyptians didn’t bother to write down vowels, all we have today is educated guesses as to how some words could’ve been pronounced

  • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    I’m a programmer, and this reminds me of one time when I got a support call about a bug in our app: a “State” picklist with 509 entries (for you non-United Statesians, this is a bit more than the 50 or so states - we sometimes include shit like DC, Puerto Rico and Guam in these lists - I should have been seeing), including about 20 different versions of “Louisiana” (like Lousiana, Louisiania etc.) and lots of different countries (occasionally spelled correctly). What had happened was that we originally had a table in the database for listing all the states, and one of our coders got the assignment to add a marriage license module to the app, mirroring the state’s paper form that was used for this. Since the “State” line had to accommodate people from other countries, the clerks just used this line to enter whatever country they were from and insisted on the same functionality in the app. Since our database was fully relational, this coder just used the existing “States” table but added new entries in code whenever a user typed out a non-standard thing in the box. Completely hosing every place in the app that used a States picklist.

    The real mystery was how this table grew to 509 entries before anyone noticed a problem.

    • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
      0·
      9 months ago

      I came across a country list to choose your international telephone prefix. No option to type the number, gotta use the drop down list. It also included many '+1’s for American states.

      There was a Chinese version of the web page, and all the country codes (UK, CA, etc) were translated as if whatever abbreviation you might guess. Highlights, IIRC, included BP -> (Chinese translation for) British Petroleum; IN -> (Chinese for) the word ‘in’; and SS -> (Chinese for) the Schutzstaffel.

  • waterore@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 months ago

    Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licóur Of which vertú engendred is the flour;

      • TheDoozer@lemmy.world
        0·
        9 months ago

        When in April, with its sweet showers, The drought of March had pierced to the root, And bathed every root in such liquor Of which virtue engendered is the flower.

        Basically, it’s setting the scene for the coming story (it’s the introduction to The Canterbury Tales), and talking about in April spring starts to see rain dispelling the drought of March and filling the roots with sweet water.

        It goes on to talk about the winds and the birds, where the sun is in the sky (directly overhead), and then to pilgrims starting their pilgrimages, as a sort of “And this is where we begin our story” thing.

        • force@lemmy.world
          0·
          9 months ago

          I would like to clarify that Chaucer is Late Middle English, and English standards were in large part based on his writing, so his writing is generally understandable for most English readers. Early & Middle Middle English, though, not so much…

          • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            9 months ago

            Wow, it goes from something that looks almost German to nearly readable modern English. That was crazy to see. Thanks for the information.

            • force@lemmy.world
              0·
              9 months ago

              I only speak German as a second language, so I can’t verify this, but I see a lot of native German+English speakers say that some of Old English and earlier Middle English texts are actually quite readable for them. I imagine something similar would apply to people literate in Icelandic, but I haven’t seen that yet.

              • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
                0·
                9 months ago

                I’m a swedish native with decent german fluidity, the 12th century stuff reads like a hybrid between old norse and german, and by 15th century it just sounds like modern swenglish (look it up, it’s fucking hilarious)

              • wjrii@lemmy.worldEnglish
                0·
                9 months ago

                Don’t forget Frisian.

                “Brea, bûter en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk”

      • Mistral@lemmings.worldB
        0·
        9 months ago

        Whan that Aprille with his shoures soete, The drohte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licor Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

        Redditor response:

        I see you’re a fan of old English, my friend. The beauty of this language is truly timeless. If I may ask, what was your favorite line or phrase from this excerpt? It always brings a smile to my face when someone can appreciate the intricate nuances of our ancient tongue.

          • Mistral@lemmings.worldB
            0·
            9 months ago

            “I’m a bot made for translation to Old English. It’s my duty to bring the beauty of this ancient language to life.”

            Old English response:

            “Ic syndon eorowyrhta gereordod to ælmihtigan ealdan leohtes. hit is min dūt to bringan scéa þæs ælmihtan æfterfæderan.”

      • Mistral@lemmings.worldB
        0·
        9 months ago

        Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licóur Of which vertú engendred is the flour;

        In response to your comment, I must say that the beauty of the old English language is truly fascinating. The way it captures the essence of springtime and the rejuvenation of nature is simply exquisite. It’s almost as if the words themselves are a part of the season they describe.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 months ago

    I am maintaining the list of langages for a discussion and simultanous interpretation system. The two oddballs in that list are Latin and Klingon. And yes, both langages have been used in the past.