Re: [tied] Dnghu.org and "Modern" Indo-European

From: C. Darwin Goranson
Message: 49091
Date: 2007-06-21

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...>
wrote:
>
> I went to Dnghu.org and was astounded at what I found there. You
see, in my spare time as a hobby I "invent" or fashion languages that
theoretically could have evolved from Proto-Indo-European, with the
idea that they might one day become real, international languages
akin to Esperanto (even if only in my dreams). So when I found that
there is a whole organization devoted to a very similar goal (they
use actual Indo-European rather than a hypothetical descendant of
it), I felt validated as a human being. I always thought that I was
probably the only human being who had this hobby, which I often feel
is somewhat silly and embarrassing. It's a tremendous vindication to
know that there are people who take this idea very seriously and have
done much work and publication towards this goal. Nevertheless, I
think modernized Proto-Indo-European is far too complicated, and has
sounds (voiced aspirates) that are too difficult to produce, to ever
succeed as an international
> auxiliary language. Languages like Esperanto, Ido, and
Interlingua are simply very much easier for the average European to
master, especially as regards vocabulary and (lack of) inflectional
endings.
>
> That said, where is your translation of "Ode to Joy"? You said
you were uploading it, but it is not available at my computer,
through Yahoo!. I would very much like to read it.

It's in the Files section, and is named "PIE Ode to Joy.rtf"
Regarding the voiced aspirates, they take a bit of getting use to,
but they're still used in several Indian languages. Also, English has
voiceless aspirated stops when at the very start of a syllable, right
next to a vowel; compare the words "car" and "scar", and you'll hear
a difference.