The Search for the Perfect Language

Umberto Eco has done a very fine job of cataloguing and elucidating Europe's historical search for the "perfect language". What is interesting is how he embeds the historical stages of the different definitions of "perfect language" into this book. Medieval Europe begins with a notion of a language in perfection spoken by Adam and passed down until the breakup at the Tower of Babel; then when it becomes apparent that no such language can be found, Renaissance philosophers take up attempts at finding a common root to all languages in order to help with religious conversions, missions, economy & trade; and finally, in our global community, efforts are being made to standardize certain linguistic derivatives in order to aid the advance of science and intergovernmental interactions. This book should be read by anyone interested in linguistics or European history in general.

A scholarly tour de force. Eco demonstrates his famous erudition in a sweeping yet detailed-when-necessary overview of the search for the perfect language - from the monogenetic hypothesis to a priori philosophical languages. The breadth of his reading brings together a bibliographic database that will serve as a starting point for further research for anyone interested in babel, symbolic languages and of course the birth of languages and europe. I only wish he'd pushed his limit to include the non-european world, but that is of course asking for too much.

This book traces a pesky idea that's been bumping around Western culture for centuries: the idea that a language (or language-like formalism) is possible (which either existed, or which we can devise) which is somehow truer than our mundane languages. Eco traces this idea starting from its roots in ancient times, and he goes into fine detail in discussing the "philosophical languages" of the Renaissance, before discussing more recent constructed languages (Esperanto and the like).The prose is very clear and straightforward, and the subject full of interesting nooks and crannies.The book is most valuable in that, once you've read it, you will start recognizing the "perfect language" idea popping up everywhere -- the idea that if we just stick to a really rigid formalism (which we're /almost/ finished coming up with!), then we can get everything right. This idea appears in everything from formalist linguistics ("since the framework is perfect, you just plug in the right parameters for your language, and it works!"), to the voodoo equations of quantitative political science ("and this formula /explains/ why the Sino-Japanese war happened!"), to American law ("I don't care if this law is just -- I'm talking about whether, formally, it's Constitutional; because that's what really matters!"), to the endless wars over which is the best programming language ("Python is better than Perl because it's based on objects, and if you don't understand why that's important, you need to learn more lambda calculus, and indent your code more /correctly/!").It'll make you think twice about anything that needlessly uses a formalism for expressing what could be said just fine in one of these mundane languages we speak!

It is hardly suprising that Eco, a professor of semiotics would write a thought provoking book on the subject of semiotics. But this is a thought provoking book on so many subjects, for example: The invention of the database,the invention of hypertext, the Cabbala(something of a favourite with him, see also Foucault's pedulum)Plato's theory of forms (a favourite subject with Borges, a writer who Eco clearly admires greatly,Theological history,Biblical history To say nothing of the books main theme the search for a means of unambiguous communication or the first experiments at encryption, or a marvelour story dealing with the burying of nuclear waste in the deserts of Arizona, but like this whole book, true, probably. Not that I am doubting for a moment the veracity of the book but it generated in me a similar excitement to reading fiction.The book, in short, has the power to provoke thought on so many subjects it has to read more than once.

Eco's The Search for the Perfect Language should be required reading for linguists in training. Although Eco refrains from overtly stating his opinions it is clear that his book is much a critique on the modern linguist's ignorance of linguistic history and the errors which result from such ignorance as it is an historical work. He briefly goes through the history of the search for an ur- or perfect language and explains the politics and personalities behind the quest. Anyone familiar with modern linguistics, particularly of the Chomskyan strains, will be aware of how similar many earlier linguistic endevours are to our own modern theory and should be able to glean valuable insights into the success and failure of current efforts. Eco's prose is witty, entertaining and thought-provoking. This volume should also be read prior to reading Foucalt's Pendulum as many of the concepts which are difficult for the average reader of Foucalt's Pendulum are explained very well in the present volume. In addition there is a great deal of material which goes quite nicely with Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language and makes the latter an easier read. Overall, The Search for the Perfect Language is one of the best studies in linguistic history and theory that I have read