Artificial Language and KQS on the theme

The language of Dothraki (Game of Thrones) has been taught at a US university. Linguist David Peterson, taught students about the language he created for the famous series as well as the art of language invention as such. Although languages normally develop organically over time, several artificial languages have been created throughout human history, with Esperanto perhaps being the most famous of them all. The creation of new languages, as well as the dying out living languages, give rise to some very interesting questions about what we need or want from a language. What do we want to express and how? What can or can't be translated? What happens if life moves on but a language doesn't? When you study a dead language, such as Latin, you will be able to translate what is written on paper, but do you really get what it means? After all, your life is so much different from the Romans'. Likewise, in Latin you won't be able to fully express feelings and concepts that are from the modern world without being creative and adapting the dead language. How would you say "I updated my homepage", in Latin, for example? Language and thought are interconnected, which is why the topic is so interesting to analyse in TOK. In the interview below, Peterson discusses some of the challenges he faced in his language creation. Apart from the practical issues such as linguistic consistency and phonological representation, artificial language creators have to overcome the bias towards their own language(s) and discourse to imaginatively conceive what other people(s) may want to express and how.

Scope

• Can all knowledge be expressed in words or symbols?

• Is it possible to think or know without language?

• If people speak more than one language, is what they know different in each language?

• Is being able to speak a language an example of “knowing how” to do something?

• What role does language play in allowing knowledge to be shared with future generations?

• Are there differences in how knowledge itself is conceived of or presented in different languages?

• How might language be seen to hinder knowledge?

• To what extent is knowledge dependent on the categories we use?

• Are reason and language inseparable in the construction and justification of knowledge?

Perspectives

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• Does the transmission of knowledge from one person or generation to another depend on language?

• What knowledge might be lost if the whole world shared one common language?

• Is ambiguity a shortcoming of language that must be eliminated, or can it also be seen as making a positive contribution to knowledge and knowing?

• Do all people share an innate knowledge of a universal grammatical structure?

• To what extent is it possible, or desirable, to overcome ambiguity in language?

Ethics

• Does ethical language differ in any significant way from other types of language?

• How can we know if language is intended to deceive or manipulate us?

• Do ethical statements convey our feelings/ emotions rather than expressing propositions?

• Is ethical language meaningless?

• To what extent are we morally responsible for the language that we use?

Methods and tools

• How are metaphors used in the construction of knowledge?

• If language works according to sets of rules and conventions, how much scope do we have as individuals to break the rules/ challenge these conventions?

• In what ways do values affect our representations of the world, for example, in language, maps, or visual images?

• To what extent do the classification systems, names and labels we use in the pursuit of knowledge affect the conclusions that we reach?

• In what ways can language be used to influence, persuade or manipulate people’s emotions?