On Jan 5, 2008 7:18 AM, Yoav Nir <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I think that using a language like that does not facilitate
> communications very well. If I refer to the city of {ierucalai,im},
> few Americans or Englishmen would recognize Jerusalem. Similarly, if
> English-speaking people write {florens} or {neipyls}, Italians might
> not recognize Firenze or Napoli, and if I write about the country
> {tsarfat}, no Frenchman is going to recognize that.
(Immediate) recognition is not really an issue. Lojban is for now a foreign
language for everyone, so one has to learn the names of towns just as one
learns them in other languages. When you're learning Mandarin, you have to
learn that 'Philadelphia' is 'fei4 cheng2' in order to be understood.
Similarly, when you're learning Lojban, you have to learn 'filydElfi,ys.',
'sankt. pitirbUrk.' (Saint Petersburg, Russia), 'seint. pItrzbyrg.' (Saint
Petersburg, USA), 'sur.' (Tyre, Lebanon).
One advantage of using local names for towns in Lojban is that Lojban
speakers, whatever their mother tongue, can be confident of understanding
each other.
mu'o mi'e komfo,amonan
