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What JCB got right

On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 1:49 AM, John Cowan <cowan@hidden.email> wrote:
 

And Rosta scripsit:

> I don't count you as an inventor; I'm sure you know even more about
> even more now fifteen-to-twenty years further on; and I don't think
> the Red Book of Woldemar is or appears in the list bit underinformed
> about language and linguistics.

Thank you; praise from Sir Hubert is praise indeed.

> Rather, the ignorance and naivety shows up in the design itself;
> it's a design from an ignoranter and naiver age, done by clever and
> ingenious people.

That is very generously put. JCB of course was very stubborn in his
persistence, whether of ignorance or of any other quality, and in the
end it's his design.


I like many have taken pot shots at Lojban and Loglan from time to time, and I always feel slightly bad about that.  JCB seems to have done at least one thing right:  He never scrapped his project as I have a dozen times or more, or if he did, he nevertheless eventually got it complete enough that the LLG folks took it seriously, relexing it and creating Lojban.

And while far from perfect, there is a lot of interesting stuff to contemplate in the language, and moreover there is an active community of enthusiasts to interact with if you want to do so.  And there is no harm in any of that.

I won't stop taking pot shots at Lojban / Loglan, but I think putting in a good word now and then is appropriate.