Best Language for Science (besides english)

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by Exhumed, Apr 30, 2006.

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  1. Exhumed Self ******. Registered Senior Member

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    Rank languages in terms of usage for future scientific development and add any looked over. Specify what branches of science your choices apply to. No need to include english because I'm sure we all agree it's at the top.
    I'm thinking these are probably the top three for Biology in the future. I don't know at all though (which is why I made the thread... in hope of being corrected)
    1. German
    2. Japanese
    3. Mandarin
     
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  3. Facial Valued Senior Member

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    1. Latin (dead, but by far)
    2. Mandarin
    3. Spanish
     
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  5. Exhumed Self ******. Registered Senior Member

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    From what I've been told about Latin I wish it were still going, as a universal language instead of English. OT- wasn't the attempt at a universal language like 90% latin? I hope I pick enough of it up as I encounter it in science and in my spanish classes.

    Anyway, I'd be interested to know why Spanish?
     
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  7. CANGAS Registered Senior Member

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    Because of the ubiquitous danger of mistranslation, it would be best if science were conducted in only one language, not in a family of four or more.

    Therefore, my choices of the favored languages for science are:

    1. English
    2. English
    3. English
    4. English
     
  8. RoyLennigan Registered Senior Member

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    english is such a confusing language filled with exceptions. i agree that latin would be a very good choice, not only because of its current use with many scientific terms, but because of its simplicity and practicality. It might be neccessary, though, to use a form more similar to italian to get across more complex ideas.
     
  9. tablariddim forexU2 Valued Senior Member

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    Are you suggesting that in the future, English speaking countries should adopt the teaching of sciences in other languages??? I really don't get it!

    Would you be surprised to learn that sciences are already being taught in German, Mandarin, Japanese and whatever other languages, in the countries that speak those languages anyway?
     
  10. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    Since you favor English, rather than favour English, should I take it that you meant to type that you favor American English?

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  11. The Devil Inside Banned Banned

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    lets face it, folks.....english IS the universal language these days.

    its the most commonly spoken foreign language in countries that dont have it as the native speech, by FAR.
     
  12. redarmy11 Registered Senior Member

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    An English person writes:

    American English is a contradiction in terms, surely?

    But seriously: I heard once that English English and American English are diversifying at such a rate that there's going to come a point in the not-too-far-off future where we won't be able to understand each other at all.

    Add any fears, concerns, whoops of delight, etc. below.
     
  13. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    I believe it was Churchill who described the USA and the UK as "two nations, separated by a common language.".
     
  14. mercaptan Das Feuer liebt mich Registered Senior Member

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    Highly unlikely. I learned American English and I feel right at home when reading BBC articles. With the advent of the WWW, British and Americans are so well aware of each other's versions of English, that getting to a point where neither understands the other, will simply not happen. The British are constantly watching American films and lots of Americans read BBC stuff. If the internet and movies did not exist, I might agree with you, however.

    Btw, I think English should be made into the official science language. Even though I am a native speaker of German born in Germany.

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  15. The Devil Inside Banned Banned

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    it is true to an extent that the 2 nations speak wildly different versions of the language, but speaking and communicating are 2 different things.

    if you take an american, and give him the farthest out there british newspaper...he is going to know exactly what is said, and vice versa.

    accents are only for the audible sounds, and the accents are the primary differences.
    i have a bachelor's degree in language studies, and im only 2 months from achieving my master's degree.

    english should be the official language of planet earth, in my opinion. it is clear, concise, and straight to the point. not alot of bells or whistles.
    a perfect scientific language.
     
  16. mercaptan Das Feuer liebt mich Registered Senior Member

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    ^^^Yes, I agree.

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  17. Facial Valued Senior Member

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    Exhumed:

    Why Spanish? Because it's the largest Romance language. English consists of 60-70% Latin vocabulary. The sophisticated vocabulary in English is almost exclusively Latin-derived, and sometimes Greek. Latin America, with its 300 million + speakers although politically and economically lagging behind now, will emerge as a great power sometime after China. Unlike English, Spanish is a direct descendant of Latin and can easily match any term or scientific expression in English (since it's just Latin anyway) with an analogue. Not only that, Spanish speakers are more likely to link an adjective with a Spanish noun because it actually sounds like the noun in their language rather in contrast to the "four-lettered" words in English that take a definition to relate with Latin (ex., luna (moon) - lunar, sol (sun) - solar, tierra (earth) -terra, mar(sea) - marine, hombre (man) saber (know)/ Homo sapiens (knowing man), cerca de (near) / circa (near) etc., among countless others)

    CANGAS:

    The only danger that I can see is when English is translated towards Latin, where the former is blamed for the ambiguity. Latin has much more precise expression of the most minute difference in perception, where many near-synonyms of English with subtle differences in meaning are derived from. The most immediate example that comes to mind is the genus/species (the Latin name) in taxonomy, rather than the English name which can often describe two different Latin names under the same English name.
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2006
  18. Hercules Rockefeller Beatings will continue until morale improves. Moderator

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    I don’t know if some formal official declaration has been made (I doubt it) but in every other sense English is already the undisputed language of science at the international level. This wasn’t always the case. Latin was the language of science for a long time, and also French to a lesser extent.
     
  19. DaleSpam TANSTAAFL Registered Senior Member

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    English followed by Math. (Math-lish, Math-ese, hmm)

    -Dale
     
  20. Exhumed Self ******. Registered Senior Member

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    Facial that was a very nice explanation

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  21. crispy Registered Member

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    I think the official language should be the one with the biggest bibliography. I understand that this may favorise some largely spoken languages, like english, but it's more practical. If another language becomes equally widespread in the future, the bibliography will follow anyway.
     
  22. Facial Valued Senior Member

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    Thanks, Exhumed.

    Remember : you read libros in a library.
     
  23. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    But you read books in a bibliotheque.

    (No idea what I meant, but I liked the alliteration.)
     
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