What would happen if natural languages behaved like programming languages?
I’m no expert in programming languages, but I know enough to realize that the slightest mistake can mess up hundreds of lines of code. Luckily for us, speakers of natural languages are better at deciphering messages, even those abound in morphosyntactic blunders.
My partner had an accident back in the US and he was given an ambulance ride to the hospital, which his insurance wouldn’t cover, leaving him with a $1000 bill that I believe still haunts him. I guess universal healthcare is not so universal after all.
Tö thøse wîth diåcrìtics iñ theïr näme… I şeê yoü!
Having diacritics in your name is a bit of a nuisance whenever you are abroad, because letters that are commonplace in your language might not exist in others. Whether you want to open a bank account or have some clerk look you up in a data base, it seems like technology doesn’t always acknowledge our existence. Programmers of the world, we want answers!
There are not enough lifetimes to properly delve into all the languages I would like to, for each of them is a fascinating journey of linguistic codes, a puzzle that captures the essence of the world from an unique perspective. Here’s to International Mother Language Day!
Tell someone you love them today, because life is short. But tell them in German, because life is also terrifying. 🥰
Linguist Gone Foreign 