A 4,000 Year Old Computer Language

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The language is so logical and precisely structured that it is being used to create a programming language that a computer can understand. Unlike most languages of the world, this language has few irregular verbs, no prepositions and almost no exceptions to strict grammatical rules. What would take a long sentence to say in most languages can be said in only a few words in this language.

One would think that we are talking about a new language, carefully designed and crafted by modern scientists. But this language, called Aymara, has been spoken by peasants in the Andes for 4,000 years! Because of its highly logical structure, Aymara is being used as a bridge language that enables computers to translate one language to another.

Since 1986, a computer has been using Aymara to translate Spanish technical and legal documents into English in the office of the Panama Canal Commission. This amazing computer can translate a 60,000 word document with 80 percent accuracy in only an hour. The final product must then be reviewed by a translator.

Generally speaking, modern languages are less logically structured and more irregular and often cannot express as many shades of meaning as can ancient languages. In other words, as we go back in time, languages are not less structured and less expressive; they are more highly structured and more expressive than today’s languages. This is powerful evidence that language has not come from grunting cavemen, but from the Creator Himself!

John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Prayer: Lord, I thank You for the gift of language. Help me to be faithful to You in my use of language, not only in speaking the truth in love and avoiding falsehoods, but also in telling others what You have done for them in Your death and resurrection. Amen.

Notes: “Computer application helps save an ancient language.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb. 24, 1990. p. 9A. Photo: Literacy class in El Alto, Bolivia.(PD)