[Sigia-l] Terms & the rest of us: Findability (was: VivelaFrance! Vive Napoleon!!)

[Dr. Marios Pittas]

> But they use "OK" for example.

Maybe, I don't know, but I do know that there we have put great efforts in
the software industry to provide localised software, and that is not just
the small projects, the big ones too (e.g. MacOS, Linux, Windows)..

> What's the percentage of French speakers who today would have no problems
> understanding the word "email"? I suspect >95%.

That's because they have been "forced" (!) to learn it that way.. should the
new generation grow with it and make it part of their language too? Should
they learn "OK"/"Yes" rather than "Oui", or in my native Greek "Nai"? Hmm..

> One thing is certain: the ability of (the current) lingua franca to
generate
> new terminology (especially in technology) on a daily basis far exceeds
any
> one particular language's ability to cope with it.
>
> So what do you do? Hope/wait for the Academy to issue neologisms for you
to
> learn and hope/wait for others to adopt them and double the number of
> words/expressions you need to know (one native, the other in the lingua
> franca)?

That is true and I do respect the point and problem that you bring up.. but
should the language be "changed"/"alienated" because of computer use? Back
to the users.. should the users vocabulary be changed or the software
adapted to the user vocabulary.. back to the discussions we had on his list
about content localisation based on IPs.. ooohh.. the question is not simple
for sure.. but neither is the answer..

Marios


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