You're relying on having texts covering all aspects of a language.
Here's a good example. Suppose I had a huge set of recipe books from a human culture - just recipes, no other record of a culture.
I might be able to get as far as XYZZY meaning "a food that can be sliced, mashed, fried and diced" but how would I really tell if XYZZY means carrot, potato, or tomato, or tuna?
Here's a good example. Suppose I had a huge set of recipe books from a human culture - just recipes, no other record of a culture.
I might be able to get as far as XYZZY meaning "a food that can be sliced, mashed, fried and diced" but how would I really tell if XYZZY means carrot, potato, or tomato, or tuna?