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What do you like about dead languages? | ||
Tags: Dead Languages | Reasons for study | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5265 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 9 of 30 17 July 2012 at 4:12am | IP Logged | ||
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My old high school English teacher taught us to never speak of literature in the past tense. She said we should always speak about literature in the present tense because the words and thoughts preserved in books are alive. A dead language isn't really "dead" either. It is alive. The ancient Greeks can still speak volumes to us in their native tongue from thousands of years ago. The ancient Egyptian scribes are still telling tales of kingdoms and pharaohs long since past. The Roman Empire continues to live on in the works of so many authors contemporary to that era. Who knows what we may yet find of ancient writing long ago buried in the sand, just waiting to give us a new "old" insight into the human condition.
As long as there is someone left who can understand their language, they will never truly die. Their words and their thoughts are immortal and continue to speak to us in their original tongue just as they did when the speakers of their languages walked the Earth thousands of years ago. Long live "dead" languages. We do indeed stand on the shoulders of giants. Here's to those who continue to give the so-called "dead" languages life! Edited by iguanamon on 17 July 2012 at 4:18am 13 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| 98789 Diglot Groupie Colombia Joined 5046 days ago 48 posts - 55 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English | Message 10 of 30 17 July 2012 at 4:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm not a dead languages learner, but If I'd decide to learn one, I'd do it to understand some texts by myself (I think some translations may have been manipulated)
... Sadly, I'd have to read a digital (or printed, whatever) copy of the original (which could be manipulated as well), because originals tend to be reservated for archeologists or sometimes simply exposed in museums. Also, learning a dead language (specially those who gave origin to the main actual languages) would help me to learn languages. (although It was already mentioned a few posts earlier) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Thor1987 Groupie Canada Joined 4737 days ago 65 posts - 84 votes Studies: German | Message 11 of 30 18 July 2012 at 2:17am | IP Logged | ||
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I like the feeling that no matter how bad you are at it your making a real contribution
to the language. While a rather common language requires great proficiency to get any7 real credit., 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mezzofanti Octoglot Senior Member Australia mezzoguild.com Joined 4751 days ago 51 posts - 112 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Arabic (classical), Arabic (Egyptian), Irish, Arabic (Levantine) Studies: Korean, Georgian, French | Message 12 of 30 18 July 2012 at 6:13am | IP Logged | ||
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As I say on my blog, the thing I loved most about learning ancient languages is this:
Learning dead languages for a few years showed me how truly rewarding it is to be able to understand people not only across cultures but across time as well. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 5086 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 13 of 30 18 July 2012 at 6:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Literature is the window to the minds of past civilizations. Many good translations are available from dead languages. But often this is not the case. I feel a thrill when reading and understanding thoughts written down hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Especially when I realise how modern those thoughts are. Ancient man lacked our knowledge, but not our intelligence. Language opens up buried worlds.
Also, a dead language is more 'contained'. When learning, say, Biblical Hebrew, the total vocabulary and grammar required to understand the books of the Bible are finite and can be quantified, classified, and learnt. There are, it's true, the Midrash, the Talmud, other Jewish writings, and Modern Hebrew. But still, dead languages are enclosed. Latin has a large and varied literature. But the student can begin with studying an accepted canon. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5012 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 14 of 30 18 July 2012 at 10:11am | IP Logged | ||
Really well said. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6706 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 15 of 30 18 July 2012 at 3:14pm | IP Logged | ||
You have to forgive the Sumerians for writing uninteresting stuff - nobody taught them how to be interesting. At least they invented a new and interesting way to be boring. 11 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| BartoG Diglot Senior Member United States confession Joined 5450 days ago 292 posts - 818 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Italian, Spanish, Latin, Uzbek | Message 16 of 30 30 July 2012 at 1:19am | IP Logged | ||
Just out of curiosity, was this Hayes Manual of Sumerian? Good practice, but very repetitive, though I guess that's why it makes good practice. Volk's Sumerian Reader is a little more varied. The fun part of dead languages is that they allow you to think thoughts from the distant past. Even when they're not very interesting thoughts, it's something to know that you're imitating the oldest way we know of for them to have been given expression. And one of the joys of Sumerian is that while there are many legends of the gods giving this or that writing system, it's quite plain with the oldest system we've deciphered that man was sort of making it up as he went along. Neat to go along on that journey. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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