Unspeakableness - Personalised Langauges 2020

2020

Unspeakabless - Personalised Languages 2020 is an re-production of the 2012 project ‘Unspeakableness’ which explores the conceptual space of polyglots. As a part of the ‘traNslatioNs - Understanding Misunderstanding’ at 21_21 Design Sight, four participants with multi-culture background living in Tokyo have been invited to a task, where they talked about their life experiences with different languages. From which, they created their own monologue using the languages they choose using the following algorithm as a way to create a language that appears most expressive and closest to their heart.

Algorithm for Generating Personalised Language

paragraph = write_self_description(first_language)
best_words = []
for word in words_of(paragraph)
    append(best_words , first(sort_by_attachment(translations_of(word))))
end
do
    fix_grammar(best_words)
    rephrase(best_words)
while sounds_weird(best_words)


Algorithm in Human Language Translation
  1. Compose a paragraph that would represent yourself in the language you are most familiar with. Do not afraid to use words from other languages if you find them relevant.
  2. Go through the texts word by word. For each word, search your language database for the most powerful, emotional-attached, or memories-attached translation. Example: If you find the word "stars" in Chinese sounds more beautiful than any other languages you know, then use it.
  3. Review the translated words, fix the grammar using the grammar system you find most natural. Rephrase any oddities to something that sounds more natural when spoken.
  4. Read it out loud. If weird, repeat step 2 to 4.