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A universal language will always be an unattainable dream

23 April 2022

9:00 AM

23 April 2022

9:00 AM

Imaginary Languages: Myths, Utopias, Fantasies,Illusions and Linguistic Fictions Marina Yaguello,translated by Eric Butler

MIT, pp.352, 25

The comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, in his stage persona as the dim-witted interviewer Ali G, once asked Noam Chomsky if a person could simply invent a new language from scratch. The renowned linguist gave him short shrift: ‘You can do it if you like and nobody would pay the slightest attention to you because it would just be a waste of time.’

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