[MUD-Dev] Internationalisation: The effect of Tongues in virtual societes

[Michael Chui]

--- "Peter \"Pietro\" Rossmann" <peter.rossmann at telia.com> wrote:

>   but now, the world opens more once again. we've got virtual
>   worlds.  everybody likes it, everybody wants to have it. even
>   the "rest" of the world that is non-english speaking. So they
>   get in. and then, evem that the player can generally communicate
>   in english, he will be laid off. because all this games are
>   built around socializing, in which he cannot take a part. he has
>   never met words like grinding, threadmilling [if he don't goes
>   to gym] and such.  So, i am wondering - would the VW (virtual
>   worlds, not volkswagen) help to unite us by usage of english? Or
>   will it be dedicated only to those speeking (writing) english?

There are two problems with this ideal, as far as I can see:

  1) In general, Americans only know how to speak English and act
  American. This hasn't been a problem, because America seems to be
  known for cultural imperialism by a variety of methods. But this
  means that, in general, the First World is dominated by
  English-speakers.

  2) Languages can't be perfectly translated. Ever. A bilingual
  speaker can convey the gist, but if a word is nuanced, it's simply
  too easy to lose the meaning by accidentally choosing the wrong
  word. This is why the Universal Language Translator is not likely
  to happen.

Hmm.. I think I jumped a logical step here. The reason I'm citing
these problems is that any kind of Internationalization suggests
some kind of mediating language OR some kind of client translator
that automatically displays the text in Czech as opposed to English.

Global unity is a nice ideal. But to do it via Virtual Worlds sounds
like a lost cause at this juncture. What we badly need, instead, is
some advances in other fields. Linguistics, politics,
psychology. The human factor needs to be deciphered. There are
propositions about a Mother Tongue that encompasses the entire
world.

Now, there's another idea floating around. Chris Crawford, in his
essay History of Thinking 4, predicts that /programming languages/
will be the next universal language. That the only thing missing is
an alphabet. Granted, this is a far-fetched idea, but lately, I've
found myself wondering what such an alphabet would be composed of.

Maybe this is what you're looking for?

Regards,
Michael Chui
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