Autzoo.1506
net.general
utcsrgv!utzoo!henry
Thu Mar 25 14:35:54 1982
Loglan
Loglan most certainly exists.  Heinlein was referring to a real language,
not making it up.  The name is indeed a contraction of "logical language",
as the language's constructs bear some resemblance to the predicate
calculus.  It was invented by Dr. J.C. Brown.

The intent behind Loglan was to do a real experimental test of the Whorfian
hypothesis:  language dictates thought patterns.  The specific idea was to
design a language -- a real one, not a toy -- in which it would be much
easier to express complicated logical statements, and then see if this really
did help one think about complex logic problems.

JCB's original idea was that he could get Loglan settled down in a short
time and then get on with the hypothesis test.  Not so;  the design of a
real language turned out to be much harder than he thought, and the result
promptly took on a life of its own.  Loglan started about 1960;  the design
is still under revision, although the basics have been stable for a long
time.  A substantial community of interest has grown up around it, with most
of the people involved being interested in the LANGUAGE much more than in
the hypothesis test (which has not, to date, been attempted).

The Loglan Institute (which is basically JCB plus a lot of volunteer help)
publishes a several-times-yearly journal The Loglanist, in which current
Loglan work is reported.  Current work includes, in particular, the
development of a YACC grammar for Loglan.

Anyone who wants more details, send mail to me (NOT the network).  If
there is sufficient interest, I will broadcast more details.

                                               Henry Spencer
                                               decvax!utzoo!henry

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