Thursday, April 26, 2012

D'Europu a Eulingu - From Europe to Eulingu

Eulingu is a language project which was first introduced in 2005. Its purpose is a) to reflect European languages, cultures and values and b) to unite Europeans in "un tongu".

Well, how to reflect appropriately? Simply by copy/paste or is there a better - even more sophisticated - approach? Certainly, the copy/paste method is a good and solid starting point. Also, researching the various European markets and landscapes for the best offer. 

But what do we bring home to our loved ones? Plain language extracts such as roots, terms and idioms or are we allowed to get distracted and focus on other key elements as well? Yes, most definitely...we are even obliged to go further. 

Language is not just sound and spelling, it also embraces structure, definition, identity, flexibility, simplicity, emotion, courage, creativity, poetry and all those other beautiful "byproducts" which make life so much more interesting and worth living.

So, what does this mean for the development of Eulingu? Well, it means we have to go beyond sound and spelling and explore deeper. We have to evaluate which "strings" of a certain European language are clear enough to get reflected in Eulingu. The main thing is that we do not need to use all ingredients which are available to us. 

We might take the root from one language, add structure from the next, let it cook with some courage from the third, spice it up with extra flexibility from four and five, sprinkle simplicity from number six on top, let it simmer for another 10-20min and end up with a dish which Europeans might call their "favourite".

Bon apetitu!

© 2012 Amiki d'Eulingu

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