PreBabel Chapter two

 

One,

Summary of PreBabel Chapter two:

Purpose:
The article explores the theory and methodology for constructing a true universal language, called PreBabel, aiming to overcome the limitations of natural languages and create a system that is easy to learn, universally applicable, and capable of auto-translation across all languages.

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Key Points

1. Criteria for a Universal Language:

• Scope: Must match at least one natural language in capacity.
• Learnability: Should be mastered to a high literacy level by an average person in 300 hours (3 hours/day for 100 days).

2. Vocabulary Challenge:

• Natural languages use arbitrary word forms ("blobs") that are hard to decode and memorize.
• A root-word system, where all vocabulary is built from a limited set of root words and is self-revealing, could solve this problem—but selecting and limiting the number of roots is difficult.

3. Grammar Challenge:

• Universal language grammar must encompass all natural language grammars or not differ significantly.
• The article proposes that if all natural languages are dialects of the universal language, learning it becomes much easier for everyone.

4. Methodology: Begetting the Mother from Her Baby (BMFB):

• Reverse-engineering a universal language by identifying and substituting necessary attributes of a natural language (English is used as the example).
• Attributes are sorted into "Mother bag" (universal features) and "Baby bag" (language-specific features).

5. Formalized Language Structure:

• Describes a toy language ("T") with syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic systems.
• Explains how meaning and truth conditions arise in language, and how formal rules can be systematized.

6. Substitution Techniques:

• Transform verbs into action-nouns, use paired sentence structures (body + grammar tag), and reduce word order ambiguity with word-phrasing (hyphens and parentheses).
• These substitutions are placed in the "Mother bag" to form the basis of the universal language.

7. Construction of the Universal (Mother Proper):

• The "Mother Proper" language uses only b-words (root-based words), eliminates inflections, and relies on word-phrasing for sentence formation.
• All vocabulary is built from 240 specially designed root words, making meanings transparent and learnable.

8. Dialects and Auto-Translation:

• Each natural language can have a "U-version" (e.g., U-English, U-Chinese), which is a dialect of the Universal Mother Proper.
• The system enables auto-translation by mapping words and grammar tags between dialects.

9. Meeting Design Criteria:

• The universal language matches the scope of natural languages and is much easier to learn due to its root-word system.
• It is both a silent (ideographic) and spoken language, with pronunciation assigned by the user community.

10. Conclusion:

• PreBabel (Universal Mother Proper) meets the criteria for a universal language and can serve as the foundation for an auto-translation machine, potentially revolutionizing global communication.

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In essence:
The article proposes a universal language system, PreBabel, built from a small set of root words and formalized grammar rules, designed to be easy to learn, universally applicable, and capable of seamless translation between all natural languages.

 

Two,

How PreBabel Differs from Natural Languages

PreBabel is designed as a universal language system with several key differences from natural languages:

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1. Vocabulary Construction

• Natural Languages:
  Vocabulary is largely arbitrary; words are "blobs" whose meanings must be memorized because their forms do not reveal their meanings (e.g., "love" means love only because it was taught that way).
• PreBabel:
  All vocabulary is constructed from a limited set of root words (240 in total, in the case for Chinese language). Each word is a combination of these root words, making its meaning transparent and self-revealing. This drastically reduces the memorization burden and makes learning much easier.

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2. Grammar and Structure

• Natural Languages:
  Grammar can be complex, with features like tenses, inflections, subject-predicate structures, and irregularities. These complexities vary widely between languages and can make learning difficult for non-native speakers.
• PreBabel:
  Grammar is formalized and mechanized. Sentences use a paired structure: a body (the main sentence) and a grammar tag (S-tag) that encodes grammatical information (tense, voice, etc.). Word order ambiguity is reduced using word-phrasing techniques (hyphens and parentheses), making sentence meaning clear regardless of word sequence.

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3. Learning Efficiency

• Natural Languages:
  Mastery requires memorizing thousands of arbitrary words and complex grammar rules, often taking years.
• PreBabel:
  Designed to be mastered in 300 hours of study by an average person. The root-word system and formalized grammar make it much easier and faster to learn.

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4. Universality and Dialects

• Natural Languages:
  Each language is distinct, and translation between them is complex due to differences in vocabulary and grammar.
• PreBabel:
  Functions as a "mother language" from which all natural languages can be seen as dialects. Each natural language can have a "U-version" (e.g., U-English, U-Chinese), which is a dialect of PreBabel. This structure enables seamless auto-translation between languages.

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5. Silent and Spoken Language

• Natural Languages:
  Primarily spoken and written, with pronunciation and spelling rules.
• PreBabel:
  Is both a silent (ideographic) and spoken language. Root words are ideographs and silent, but pronunciation can be assigned by the user community, making it adaptable to different linguistic backgrounds.

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6. Auto-Translation Capability

• Natural Languages:
  Translation requires complex mapping and often loses nuance.
• PreBabel:
  Enables the construction of an auto-translation machine, mapping words and grammar tags between dialects with precision, reducing ambiguity and cultural barriers.

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In summary:
PreBabel differs from natural languages by using a transparent root-word system, formalized grammar, paired sentence structures, and universal design principles that make it easier to learn, translate, and adapt across cultures.

 

Three,

Detailed Explanation of the BMFB Methodology ("Begetting the Mother from Her Baby")

The BMFB methodology is a reverse-engineering approach proposed for constructing a universal language by extracting its "mother language" from an existing natural language. Here’s how it works, step by step:

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1. Select a Natural Language as the Starting Point

• The process begins by choosing a natural language (e.g., English) as the "baby" language from which the universal "mother" language will be derived.

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2. List All Attributes of the Selected Language

• Identify and enumerate all the attributes (features, rules, vocabulary, grammar, etc.) of the chosen natural language.

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3. Substitute Attributes with Universal Mechanisms

• For each attribute, determine if it can be replaced by a more universal mechanism (U).
• If an attribute (Ar) can be substituted by a universal mechanism (U) without changing the system, place U in the "Mother bag" and Ar in the "Baby bag". [
• If an attribute cannot be substituted, place it in both bags.

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4. Fill the Mother Bag and Baby Bag

• After processing all attributes, you end up with two bags:
• Mother bag: Contains universal mechanisms and substituted features.
• Baby bag: Contains the original features of the natural language.

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5. Analyze the Mother Bag

• The "Mother bag" is hypothesized to contain the genetic code of the universal language.
• By examining the contents of the Mother bag, you can identify the universal features that could serve as the foundation for a universal language. [

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6. Apply to Other Languages

• The same BMFB procedure can be applied to other natural languages (e.g., Russian, Chinese) to extract their respective "mother bags."
• The ultimate goal is to find a universal "mother proper" that is embedded in all natural languages. [

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7. Construct the Universal Language

• The universal language is constructed by combining the universal mechanisms found in the Mother bag, such as:
• Root-word vocabulary system
• Paired sentence structures (body + grammar tag)
• Word-phrasing techniques
• Mechanized grammar rules

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8. Test and Refine

• The methodology is iterative: If a substitution or guess is incorrect, it can be revised and tested again.
• The process is designed to be flexible and adaptive, allowing for continuous refinement. [

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Summary Table: BMFB Steps

Step	Description
1	Select a natural language as the "baby"
2	List all attributes of the language
3	Substitute attributes with universal mechanisms where possible
4	Fill "Mother bag" (universal features) and "Baby bag" (original features)
5	Analyze the "Mother bag" for universal language features
6	Apply to other languages to find common universals
7	Construct the universal language from the "Mother bag"
8	Test, refine, and iterate

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Key Insights

• Reverse-engineering: Instead of comparing languages directly, BMFB extracts universal features from within a single language.
• Substitution, not subtraction: The process substitutes features but does not remove or add anything to the original system, preserving structural integrity. [
• Universality: The methodology aims to uncover the genetic code of a universal language that is present in all natural languages.

 

  

Four,

Here’s an example of how the BMFB methodology ("Begetting the Mother from Her Baby") works with a specific English language feature—verbs:

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Step-by-Step Example: Substituting the Verb Class in English

1. Identify the Feature

• In English, verbs are a distinct grammatical class, separate from nouns and pronouns. They carry tense, voice, and other grammatical information.

2. Propose a Universal Mechanism

• The BMFB methodology asks: Can the verb class be substituted with a universal mechanism without changing the system’s expressive power?
• The proposal is to replace all English verbs with action nouns and just three universal verbs: "do," "be," and "not". [

3. Apply the Substitution

• Original English sentence:
  I sing a song.
• BMFB substituted sentence:
  I do sing a song.
  Here, "do sing" is treated as an action noun, and "do" is one of the universal verbs. This substitution is grammatically correct in English, though slightly awkward. [

4. Place Features in Bags

• The new mechanism (action nouns + three universal verbs) is placed in the Mother bag (universal features).
• The original English verb class is placed in the Baby bag (language-specific features). [

5. Result

• The expressive power of English is preserved, but the verb system is now universalized and simplified. This makes it easier to learn and apply across different languages.

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Further Example: Paired Sentence Structure

• Original English sentence:
  I had eaten dinner when you came.
• BMFB substituted sentence:
  (I eat dinner when you come, papf)
  Here, "papf" is a grammar tag indicating "past perfect tense." The sentence is split into a body ("I eat dinner when you come") and a tag ("papf").
• The paired structure (body + grammar tag) goes into the Mother bag; the original tense structure remains in the Baby bag. [

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Summary Table: BMFB Applied to English Verbs

English Feature					BMFB Substitution								Mother Bag								Baby Bag
Verb class					Action nouns + "do, be, not"								Yes								Yes (original verbs)
Tense structure					Grammar tag (S-tag)								Yes								Yes (original tense)

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In essence:
BMFB systematically substitutes English-specific features with universal mechanisms, preserving expressive power but simplifying and standardizing the system for universal application.