EmptyMan wrote:Where did you hear this from? I doubt it's true. Koine was the Greek spoken by the people, Attic was the greek of educated people. Chinese would probably be more exact than Attic or Koine, at least in it's written from.
Geoff wrote:The answer to that question would depend on the type of material one desired to present with the given language. Some languages are horrible for considering certain topics. For example, Greek has a large vocabulary of nautical terms which are highly nuanced and descriptive. Surely other languages have subjects which they are better suited to convey than Greek. There is no doubt that precision in the Greek language is possible and that perhaps more than most other languages. I don't know if I would say most exact, but among the most exact definitely.
3 things make Greek exact, first the elegance of the grammar. Greek is highly inflected which helps avoid vagueness. Subject\verb connection is easily identifyable in even the most complex sentences. Antecedents are less difficult to trace. Modifiers will agree with the words they modify, and such like.
Second, as mentioned above, the massive, and particular vocabulary is helpful for expressing thoughts clearly without confusion.
Finally, a highly defined verb system presents another "dimension" to the reader concerning time/aspect.
Hope this is helpful. Certainly there are several here who could provide a better answer and/ or correct mine. A book you may find interesting and fun for exploring this concept is "Alpha to Omega" from Humez & Humez. Why don't you stick around and learn Greek. Download one of the Grammars and give it a shot. The people here are extremely helpful
http://www.textkit.com/greek_grammar.php
Geoff wrote:It would be interesting to examine the impact of the rise of computers on language worldwide. Which languages lend themselves to discussing computers and how many words have been added to vocabularies. Ancient Greek is obviously not suited to writing a tech manual on some software.
Geoff wrote:It would be interesting to examine the impact of the rise of computers on language worldwide. Which languages lend themselves to discussing computers and how many words have been added to vocabularies. Ancient Greek is obviously not suited to writing a tech manual on some software.
Democritus wrote: Ever heard the term "wetware" ? In meetings I hear people say "let's talk offline" when they really mean "let's talk later" or "let's talk privately."
Democritus wrote:One legacy of computers, in language, will be to leave behind a long list of terms that will be used metaphorically, in ways that are not related to the original technical sense.
Rocky Pyle wrote:Greetings and Salutations:
I have often read and heard that Greek (specifically thinking of Ancient or Koine) is the most exact language ever created. {snip}
If that were the case, Sanskrit is far more precise than Greek,
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