1 If
language were for nothing but the communication of warnings and weather reports,
an artificial international language would do nicely. But people have always
had a need to do more than simply "tell it like it is".
2 Language is for reporting not merely one’s work.
In our language we define ourselves. 3 For this, a language needs idioms, needs all the oddities of grammar and
style that reflect its history and development, all the poetic turns of phrases
that have enriched it over the centuries. The language needs these Well,
perhaps not. Does a person need eyebrows If you were to construct a human
being, would you provide eyebrows Is there some special reason why our lips
should be a different color from the rest of our face Perhaps not, but this is
how people—real people—are. Artificial language is recommended
highly for artificial people. 4 The
computers need it to simplify communication among themselves. 5 For communication between people, languages
in all their diversity will remain and grow as mirrors of the growth and soul of
the societies that speak them.