[lojban] Re: Response ro Robin's "Essay on the future of Lojban"

[sigvaldi <sigvald@binet.is>]

On Apr 11, 5:35 pm, Michael Everson <michael.ever...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 11 Apr 2010, at 12:41, sigvaldi wrote:
>
> >> Seriously, that's just dumb. Neologisms are no different from conlang engineering.Icelandhas a whole institute (Íslensk málstöð) for devising new terminology.
>
> > Íslensk málstöð has got nothing to do with creating words or terms, that is something that the population, the users of the language does.
>
> In point of fact, I knew people who worked there in the early 1990s, and they said that they did in fact receive calls from people who wanted to know what theIcelandicwords for new things were. I knew people who worked on the Tölvuorðasafn (the computer terminology dictionary), published by the Málstöð.

Yes, the Málstöð collected and made public the collections and could
direct callers to those who were creating the words.

> Having *myself* been involved with the development of Irish computer terminology, I can tell you that much vocabulary *is* created by committees of people, and does not just "well up" from the populace.

Yes, committees of computer users just as the committe on aviation
terms are people associated with aviation in some way. None of them
worked at the Íslensk Málstöð but their findings were published by
them.

The committe on aviation terms came about because of a general lack of
Icelandic words in the field so a few aviation minded people met and
formed a committe. They were assisted by the Málstöð when that started
but I think the committee was older.

Most of the best known neologisms (sími (telephone or as ritsími, the
telegraph) tölva (for computer) etc, were created long before the
Íslensk málstöð was formed.

Íslensk Málstöð does not exist anymore, they became part of another
institute but Icelanders are still creating new words nonetheless.

> I recall one story that someone had build a bowling alley and named it "Bóling" but people were unhappy at a barely-assimilated loanword being used. At length "Keila" was chosen, if I remember correctly.

Yes, and not by someone from the Málstöð I guess.



> Michael

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