Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
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Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#2French is one of those dying tongues. In France we don't speak french anymore, we speak franglais, a mix of french and english words.
Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#3French is one of those dying tongues. In France we don't speak french anymore, we speak franglais, a mix of french and english words.
And in England we speak a mix of English and French words. Have done since around 1066.
Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#4Rosetta Stone works to preserve languages with its products http://m.news9.com/story.aspx?story=30485894&catId=112032
Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#5It's not a well-liked view, but I'm very glad that humanity is on the path to speaking only a few languages (or perhaps just one).
If you disagree, consider this thought experiment: Imagine if the entire world spoke a single language. Would we ever want to invent new languages, making mutual communication harder? It would be silly.
I do feel for the speakers of these dying tongues, but in the long run, this is a good thing. Do you feel stunted or unsatisfied because your ancestors didn't pass their native tongues down to you? I don't. And most people don't realize how great a cost we pay for having so many languages. Ideally, linguists and historians would document these languages and their cultures, then let them quietly fade. Teaching them to new generations is not only a futile effort, it's less beneficial on net.
Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#6French is one of those dying tongues. In France we don't speak french anymore, we speak franglais, a mix of french and english words.
And in England we speak a mix of English and French words. Have done since around 1066.
It's a problem of speed of changes, old people can't have a true discussion to young people anymore.
Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
And in England we speak a mix of English and French words. Have done since around 1066.
It's a problem of speed of changes, old people can't have a true discussion to young people anymore.
I've noticed that whenever I've been to France. I learned French in school, and I notice there's an age cut-off when I can no longer understand what people are saying.
A small consolation is that the people who no longer speak intelligible French are usually somewhat better at English.
Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#8It's not a well-liked view, but I'm very glad that humanity is on the path to speaking only a few languages (or perhaps just one). If you disagree, consider this thought experiment: Imagine if the entire world spoke a single language. Would we ever want to invent new languages, making mutual communication harder? It would be silly. I do feel for the speakers of these dying tongues, but in the long run, this is a good…
We probably would invent new languages, or at least new dialects, to signal group membership. If somebody has made the effort to learn the language then they're probably serious about being part of the group. As a practical example, consider the revival of the Hebrew language, which happened mostly as an expression of Jewish identity. Strengthening group identity is the main motivation for preserving rare languages.
Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#9If computer scientists made similar emotional arguments: Save EBCDIC because diversity.
No. Full stop. It's the adherents' of these cultures (speakers' of these languages) duty to compile and/or translate their cultural insights and knowledge. If they fail to do that - good bye, it probably wasn't that important, otherwise the culture or language would have been dominant.
Re: Languages: Why we must save dying tongues (2014)
#10It's not a well-liked view, but I'm very glad that humanity is on the path to speaking only a few languages (or perhaps just one). If you disagree, consider this thought experiment: Imagine if the entire world spoke a single language. Would we ever want to invent new languages, making mutual communication harder? It would be silly. I do feel for the speakers of these dying tongues, but in the long run, this is a good…
Are you willing to stop speaking, reading, thinking, writing in English and use Mandarin?
And what about the fact that some concepts and words are enunciated more succintly or clearly in different languages?
I mean, you have the perfect example in front of you: why are there so many programming languages? Could it be that some language constructs are more difficult in one language vs the other? Why invent new programming languages when you've got C?