Re: The Promise of Forth

On Mar 24, 5:41 pm, John Doty <j...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Bruce McFarling wrote:
> > On Mar 24, 4:16 pm, John Doty <j...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> But can one call a notation that lacks the properties of a language,
> >> "language"?

> > What in your view is the properties of a language?

> The universals linguists identify in languages: syntax, tree structured
> grammar, parts of speech, ...

However, people are perfectly capable of understanding body language
without any parts of speech at all.

You start with the adoption of a common term into a field as a
technical term and then insist that that jargon is the only
permissible use of the term.

It doesn't work like that in the social sciences. A discipline gets to
define the terms it uses within the scope of technical discussions
amongst social scientists in that field ... and normally within the
scope of technical discussions amongst those using a particular
approach in that field ... but its certainly doesn't get to restrict
all use of that term in all other social settings.

Here's some of the define:language results from Google

A language is a system, used to communicate, comprised of a set of
symbols and a set of rules (or grammar) by which the manipulation of
these symbols is governed. These symbols can be combined productively
to convey new information, distinguishing languages from other forms
of communication.

The human use of spoken or written words as a communication system.
Language can also include a system of communication based on signs,
gestures, or inarticulate sounds.

# a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or
conventional symbols; "he taught foreign languages"; "the language
introduced is ...
# speech: (language) communication by word of mouth; "his speech was
garbled"; "he uttered harsh language"; "he recorded the spoken
language of the streets"
# terminology: a system of words used to name things in a particular
discipline; "legal terminology"; "biological nomenclature"; "the
language of sociology"
# linguistic process: the cognitive processes involved in producing
and understanding linguistic communication; "he didn't have the
language to express his feelings"
# the mental faculty or power of vocal communication; "language sets
homo sapiens apart from all other animals"
# lyric: the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number; "his
compositions always started with the lyrics"; "he wrote both words and
music"; "the song uses colloquial language"

Forth qualifies as a language under the first definition, the second
definition, and the first and third sense of the third definition.