-JKP- > 08-03-2016, 09:42 PM
Anton > 23-03-2016, 11:46 PM
Quote:It can be difficult to separate a cipher from a constructed language.
Emma May Smith > 24-03-2016, 01:08 PM
(23-03-2016, 11:46 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.As to the subject matter of the thread: first of all, the distinction between "positive" and "negative" arguments looks to me artificial. When we speak of difference between two objects, that means that one object has or possesses something that the other one lacks, and vice versa. That's just the essence of difference. Hence if one argues that a language does not normally behave in that way or another - this is as "positive" an argument toward a cipher as it is a "negative" one.
Anton > 24-03-2016, 01:51 PM
Quote:Of your three points in favour of a cipher, I agree that point 2) is good. But point 1) is ambiguous, and point 3) is incredibly thin.
Oocephalus > 24-03-2016, 05:04 PM
-JKP- > 24-03-2016, 05:07 PM
(24-03-2016, 01:51 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Quote:Of your three points in favour of a cipher, I agree that point 2) is good. But point 1) is ambiguous, and point 3) is incredibly thin.
Point 3) is not that thin when we begin to consider possibilities of what this label may stand for. Every possibility yields quite strange outcome. Like, if it stands for a number, then from the viewpoint of an unknown language we should admit not only unknown script, but also an unknown numbering system. If it is a noun, then we have a one-letter noun (is that at all possible in a non-hyeroglyphic script?) And so on.
Emma May Smith > 24-03-2016, 05:44 PM
(24-03-2016, 01:51 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Quote:Of your three points in favour of a cipher, I agree that point 2) is good. But point 1) is ambiguous, and point 3) is incredibly thin.
Point 3) is not that thin when we begin to consider possibilities of what this label may stand for. Every possibility yields quite strange outcome. Like, if it stands for a number, then from the viewpoint of an unknown language we should admit not only unknown script, but also an unknown numbering system. If it is a noun, then we have a one-letter noun (is that at all possible in a non-hyeroglyphic script?) And so on.
-JKP- > 24-03-2016, 05:59 PM
(24-03-2016, 05:44 PM)Emma May Smith Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Many scripts at this time used characters to represent numbers. Being both an unknown script and an unknown numeral system would be pretty much normal.
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Anton > 24-03-2016, 09:54 PM
Quote:Many scripts at this time used characters to represent numbers
Quote:Being both an unknown script and an unknown numeral system would be pretty much normal
Quote:Many languages have nouns which have a single sound.
Quote:Most importantly, it's not hugely convincing that this single stroke is a label.
ReneZ > 24-03-2016, 10:36 PM
(24-03-2016, 09:54 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.What is not normal is that this supposed number is represented by a symbol which is extremely rare in the corpus.