Human Languages?

[Gregory Matthews]

For an interesting experience in learning, which of the following are current human languages?  How many people currently speak such?  What do you know about the human language?

1)  Ket

2)  Zed

3) Xoo

[phkrause]

#1; have no idea; and no idea

[Gregory Matthews]

From the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Ket language, one of two surviving members of the Yeniseian family of languages spoken by about 500 people living in central Siberia. (The other, a moribund close relative called Yug [Yugh], or Sym, is sometimes considered a dialect of Ket.)

[Gregory Matthews]

The Z (pronounced Zed) language is a formal specification language that makes it easier to write mathematical description of complex dynamic systems such as software. The descriptions are usually smaller and simpler than any programming language can provide. They should contain a mixture of formal and informal parts.

[Gregory Matthews]

From The Economist:

 

For sound complexity, one language stands out. !Xóõ, spoken by just a few thousand, mostly in Botswana, has a blistering array of unusual sounds. Its vowels include plain, pharyngealised, strident and breathy, and they carry four tones. It has five basic clicks and 17 accompanying ones. The leading expert on the !Xóõ, Tony Traill, developed a lump on his larynx from learning to make their sounds. Further research showed that adult !Xóõ-speakers had the same lump (children had not developed it yet).