Chapter 201. [Interlude]
<<Soooo tired.>>
I collapsed onto the sofa at home with a thud.
Angu Ogu sat beside me, patting my head.
<<Iroha, you must be tired.>>
<<Really. In the end, it took about 6 hours, huh?>>
The first day of the Guinness World Record evaluation concluded safely. The proceedings were very smooth, and there were no particular issues…
And yet, I felt like this.
<<But seriously, you’re amazing. How many languages did you speak today?>>
<<About 30 languages. Honestly, some languages felt a bit like cheating to count.>>
<<Cheating?>>
<<For example, Indonesian and Malay. These two are almost the same.>>
<<Oh, I see.>>
If an Indonesian speaks, it becomes Indonesian, and if a Malaysian speaks, it becomes Malay—they’re that similar.
They can communicate seamlessly without any problem.
<<Honestly, it’s almost like dialects. Well, if you start talking about that, there’s no clear distinction between languages and dialects in the first place.>>
<<Oh, really?>>
<<Yeah. Generally, if mutual intelligibility is over 50%, it’s a language; otherwise, it’s a dialect. But there’s no clear standard for that. It’s a gradient.>>
By this logic, Indonesian and Malay would get treated as dialects. However, that’s not the reality.
On the other hand, the Tsugaru dialect in Japanese is not understood by most Japanese people.
It’s often mistaken for speaking French. Still, it’s considered a dialect, not a separate language.
Maybe that’s why UNESCO doesn’t distinguish between languages and dialects.
There are various theories like if a language has many speakers, it’s a language; if few, it’s a dialect.
<<But lately, dialects are decreasing worldwide.>>
Even Japanese dialects are listed in various dictionaries.
It’s not just dialects; many minority languages are also facing the threat of extinction.
Whether to celebrate the ease of communication or lament the loss of culture, I don’t know.
But it’s a fact that dialects are naturally or artificially being eliminated.
In Japan, there was a time when dialects were strictly regulated.
They used something called “Dialect Tags”. If you used a dialect at school, you had to wear it around your neck.
And if you found someone else using a dialect, you could tag them with it.
That’s how they regulated dialects.
Well, it must have led to bullying.
When I first heard about this, I thought that, but leaving that aside.
I felt it.
The numerous languages that branched off in ancient times are now converging again.
<<Maybe, in the future, humanity… or even advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, live in a world where they communicate in a single unified language.>>
<<Wha, why are you suddenly talking about such a difficult topic?>>
<<Huh? Even if you don’t show such a rejection.>>
I was just talking about romance.
I wonder how future VTubers will be, or if there are VTubers among aliens.
<<Ogu really doesn’t like these kinds of conversations. Also, math. You often get subtraction and multiplication wrong.>>
<<And when it comes to that, you Japanese, or rather Asians, are just too good at it! Well, maybe I, myself, might be a bit more averse than the average American?>>
<<I was aware of that. It feels like a typical “humanities” thing. Of course, parental influence is strong too.>>
<<What’s humanities, though?>>
<<Ah, right. It doesn’t exist in America, huh? Or is it just Japan that’s peculiar?>>
When I studied abroad in an American high school, I acquired some knowledge about this.
Originally, all academic disciplines fell under the umbrella of “science”.
<<Um, in Japan, among the 5 branches of science, people good at natural sciences, applied sciences, and formal sciences are called “science” majors and those good at social sciences and humanities are called “humanities” majors… something like that?>>
<<What’s that? That’s a weird story. What does it have to do with society and language?>>
<<Ugh, it’s hard to argue when you put it that way. Well, it seems like it was necessary in the past.>>
There was an urgent need to cultivate talents in engineering and law.
So, they divided academic disciplines into two, discarding one to speed up the process.
Thinking about it that way, the division makes sense.
Well, it’s mostly become obsolete in modern times, though.
<<This kind of categorization wasn’t good.>>
Saying you’re bad at something because you’re a science major or a humanities major is meaningless.
Originally, there was no distinction, just unfounded beliefs.
Well, there are theorists and empiricists, though.
You can also call it bottom-up thinking and top-down thinking.
In any case, all disciplines are a kind of science, and language is no exception.
In other words…
The first science that humanity learns when born into this world is language.
<<Hmm, I honestly didn’t quite understand Iroha’s talk; it was too complicated.>>
<<Hey.>>
<<But, you know, a world where you can communicate with anyone, it sounds like heaven.>>
<<…Huh?>>
<<Is something wrong?>>
<<Ah, no. That’s quite an interesting perspective.>>
As I said that, memories of that time came to mind.
The view from the Tower of Babel, the appearance of angels, the voice of God.
Whether I actually saw it in reality or if it was an illusion shown by my brain in an extreme state, I don’t know.
I have no idea.
***
And the 2nd day of judging begins!
Chapter 201. [Interlude]
<<Soooo tired.>>
I collapsed onto the sofa at home with a thud.
Angu Ogu sat beside me, patting my head.
<<Iroha, you must be tired.>>
<<Really. In the end, it took about 6 hours, huh?>>
The first day of the Guinness World Record evaluation concluded safely. The proceedings were very smooth, and there were no particular issues…
And yet, I felt like this.
<<But seriously, you’re amazing. How many languages did you speak today?>>
<<About 30 languages. Honestly, some languages felt a bit like cheating to count.>>
<<Cheating?>>
<<For example, Indonesian and Malay. These two are almost the same.>>
<<Oh, I see.>>
If an Indonesian speaks, it becomes Indonesian, and if a Malaysian speaks, it becomes Malay—they’re that similar.
They can communicate seamlessly without any problem.
<<Honestly, it’s almost like dialects. Well, if you start talking about that, there’s no clear distinction between languages and dialects in the first place.>>
<<Oh, really?>>
<<Yeah. Generally, if mutual intelligibility is over 50%, it’s a language; otherwise, it’s a dialect. But there’s no clear standard for that. It’s a gradient.>>
By this logic, Indonesian and Malay would get treated as dialects. However, that’s not the reality.
On the other hand, the Tsugaru dialect in Japanese is not understood by most Japanese people.
It’s often mistaken for speaking French. Still, it’s considered a dialect, not a separate language.
Maybe that’s why UNESCO doesn’t distinguish between languages and dialects.
There are various theories like if a language has many speakers, it’s a language; if few, it’s a dialect.
<<But lately, dialects are decreasing worldwide.>>
Even Japanese dialects are listed in various dictionaries.
It’s not just dialects; many minority languages are also facing the threat of extinction.
Whether to celebrate the ease of communication or lament the loss of culture, I don’t know.
But it’s a fact that dialects are naturally or artificially being eliminated.
In Japan, there was a time when dialects were strictly regulated.
They used something called “Dialect Tags”. If you used a dialect at school, you had to wear it around your neck.
And if you found someone else using a dialect, you could tag them with it.
That’s how they regulated dialects.
Well, it must have led to bullying.
When I first heard about this, I thought that, but leaving that aside.
I felt it.
The numerous languages that branched off in ancient times are now converging again.
<<Maybe, in the future, humanity… or even advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, live in a world where they communicate in a single unified language.>>
<<Wha, why are you suddenly talking about such a difficult topic?>>
<<Huh? Even if you don’t show such a rejection.>>
I was just talking about romance.
I wonder how future VTubers will be, or if there are VTubers among aliens.
<<Ogu really doesn’t like these kinds of conversations. Also, math. You often get subtraction and multiplication wrong.>>
<<And when it comes to that, you Japanese, or rather Asians, are just too good at it! Well, maybe I, myself, might be a bit more averse than the average American?>>
<<I was aware of that. It feels like a typical “humanities” thing. Of course, parental influence is strong too.>>
<<What’s humanities, though?>>
<<Ah, right. It doesn’t exist in America, huh? Or is it just Japan that’s peculiar?>>
When I studied abroad in an American high school, I acquired some knowledge about this.
Originally, all academic disciplines fell under the umbrella of “science”.
<<Um, in Japan, among the 5 branches of science, people good at natural sciences, applied sciences, and formal sciences are called “science” majors and those good at social sciences and humanities are called “humanities” majors… something like that?>>
<<What’s that? That’s a weird story. What does it have to do with society and language?>>
<<Ugh, it’s hard to argue when you put it that way. Well, it seems like it was necessary in the past.>>
There was an urgent need to cultivate talents in engineering and law.
So, they divided academic disciplines into two, discarding one to speed up the process.
Thinking about it that way, the division makes sense.
Well, it’s mostly become obsolete in modern times, though.
<<This kind of categorization wasn’t good.>>
Saying you’re bad at something because you’re a science major or a humanities major is meaningless.
Originally, there was no distinction, just unfounded beliefs.
Well, there are theorists and empiricists, though.
You can also call it bottom-up thinking and top-down thinking.
In any case, all disciplines are a kind of science, and language is no exception.
In other words…
The first science that humanity learns when born into this world is language.
<<Hmm, I honestly didn’t quite understand Iroha’s talk; it was too complicated.>>
<<Hey.>>
<<But, you know, a world where you can communicate with anyone, it sounds like heaven.>>
<<…Huh?>>
<<Is something wrong?>>
<<Ah, no. That’s quite an interesting perspective.>>
As I said that, memories of that time came to mind.
The view from the Tower of Babel, the appearance of angels, the voice of God.
Whether I actually saw it in reality or if it was an illusion shown by my brain in an extreme state, I don’t know.
I have no idea.
***
And the 2nd day of judging begins!
