Re: [lojban] Re: Are Natlang the best case for entropy in communication ?

[Jonathan Jones <eyeonus@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 5:31 AM, Escape Landsome <escaaape@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, a lot of "words" in Chinese are phonologically identical, but the problem is solved by not using a given word in isolation but rather embedded in a cloud of distinctive other words.  When a Chinese speaks of shrimp, for example, the _expression_ he uses translates as something like "shrimp shrimp [a different word] fish bug" (from memory, details may vary, though not the principle).

True, that is, with redundancy the code can convey information more
securely...   This is well known in information theory.

Please, consider the notion of paradigm.  A paradigm is a set of
options or choices you can choose one within the set.   If there is
ambiguity between two words that are not in the same paradigm, this is
not as annoying as if the ambiguit lies between two words of the same
paradigm, not even mentioning the case of two opposite words !

For instance, in english, you could confound "none" and "nun", or
"all" and "owl", but at least there's no chance to confound "all" and
"none", AND THAT IS THE IMPORTANT THING !

I contend that confusing words of separate "paradigms" is worse.

Moreover, I contend that you are making a mountain out a molehill, as such problems as you are calling attention to are both rare and easily fixed.

The pronunciation of Lojban's vowels were specifically chosen to be as unlike in sound to the others as possible. .abu sounds nothing like .obu, .ebu sounds nothing like .ibu, and so on. In light of this, I submit that the only case where confusion between which of a series is the one that was said is even likely is when the distincting vowel is completely unheard, and in such a case as that, either the listener would either attempt to make an educated guess as to which of the series was most likely to have been the spoken one based upon the context of the utterance it was a part of, or alternatively asking the speaker to repeat that particular word.

If you do not understand a person, it is a simple matter to ask for clarification.

-- 
mu'o mi'e .aionys.

.i.e'ucai ko cmima lo pilno be denpa bu .i doi.luk. mi patfu do zo'o
(Come to the Dot Side! Luke, I am your father. :D )

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