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Languages Die Out | ||
Tags: Endangered Language | TV | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| manna Groupie Kyrgyzstan Joined 7258 days ago 94 posts - 112 votes  | Message 1 of 20 20 January 2005 at 3:56am | IP Logged |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4172085.stm
The BBC run a story of languages dying out at a rather astonishing rate.... 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ProfArguelles Moderator United States foreignlanguageexper Joined 7256 days ago 609 posts - 2102 votes | Message 2 of 20 21 January 2005 at 2:09am | IP Logged |
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This is THE crucial issue for all of us who love languages. We must never forget that language extinction can occur within just a few generations. History tells us that the indigenous languages of Western Europe all disappeared within a century of their territory being incorporated into the Roman Empire. Likewise, within 75 years of settling in Normandy, the Normans no longer spoke Norse. These events transpired in ages without our global communications network, so it only stands to reason that language die-out will happen even faster within our lifetimes. It also only stands to reason that, in order to withstand the tide of global English, languages must have a) a sufficiently large demographic base, b) a difuse geographic spread, and (probably most importantly) c) be studied widely abroad. Very, very few languages have any of these traits, and only two (Spanish and Arabic) have all of them. I earnestly hope that I am wrong, but I fear that by mid-century the number of languages will be cut from however many thousand there are now to that many hundred, and that by the end of the century, only a handful or two may remain. After all, we must admit that from the standpoint of communication, it only makes sense to have a single global language in a global age, and so from this perspective languages are a superfluous luxury, though obviously this point of view is repugnant to all of us. At any rate, are you all aware that there are only about 100 languages that have more than 1,000,000 speakers, fewer that 50 with more than 10,000,000 speakers, and only 10 or 12 with more than 100,000,000 speakers? I believe that even many of these last are not destined for long-term survival. The only big variable is the collapse of the American empire and its contingent economic system. If that happens, will the world abandon English? Other "universal" languages have always been supported by military power and wealth, so on the one hand it does seem likely. On the other hand, English instruction has now taken root in so many corners of the globe, and so many millions have invested time in learning it and using it, that it might survive purely as a vehicle of communication. Indeed, unlike Russian in Eastern Europe and other parts of the former Soviet Empire, I do not believe there is much resentment towards English. The world's citizens simply use it and will probably continue doing so no matter what. Certainly, though, if American hegemony should be replaced by Chinese and/or Indian, as many futurologists predict, then the hand of Chinese and Hindi will be strengthened. At any rate, given that this die-out is inevitable, what we language lovers out to do is devote ourselves to a crusade to save as many as possible. How? Somehow we must raise linguistic consciousness to the degree that all educated people are expected to know not just one or two languages but rather five or six, thus ensuring that certain languages at least - those that have long literary and cultural traditions - continue to be studied and are not lost. We will lose, but it will be our Ragnarok, our Charge of the Light Brigade.
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| kidnickels Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 7250 days ago 124 posts - 119 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishB1, French Studies: Mandarin | Message 3 of 20 21 January 2005 at 11:36pm | IP Logged |
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Let me take the other side: While regrettable, the death of languages is a natural extension of human progress. People who lack common tongues can't trade, can't intermingle, can't negotiate to avoid conflicts. And while we could certainly all speak multiple languages (our native tongues plus a 'global' language or one of a list of global languages), it's hardly reasonable to expect that everyone will speak two or more languages. That said, I think that the Internet and the ever-decreasing cost of publishing will help to slow the tide of language extinctions. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| manna Groupie Kyrgyzstan Joined 7258 days ago 94 posts - 112 votes | Message 4 of 20 22 January 2005 at 4:40am | IP Logged |
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Then there's of course the aspect of new2 languages emerging: creole languages...
Also, I think probably many more people than assumed in the West do speak two or three languages. There are many multicultural regions in this world, regions where languages coexist... just because we ignore bilingual areas in the West doesn't mean that such areas don't exist... (oh, and then there are the immigrants...) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ProfArguelles Moderator United States foreignlanguageexper Joined 7256 days ago 609 posts - 2102 votes | Message 5 of 20 23 January 2005 at 7:38am | IP Logged |
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Again, when the Roman Empire expanded, Latin essentially wiped the slate clean in Western Europe. That's going to happen again on a global scale in our lifetimes. From the point of view of communication, it will be a blessing. I can also concede that the loss of the great majority of languages, which only have a few hundred or at most a thousand speakers and have never been written down, will not be a terrible loss. But what of the great literary vehicles of mankind? What if Persian is forgotten and Italian follows the way of Latin?
Yes, it is unreasonable to think that everyone could learn a handful of languages, but it is NOT unreaonable to imagine a standard where the itelligentsia does so. In the 19th century, everyone who had had any kind of education knew four or five. Where I now am in Lebanon everyone who is at all educated knows three, quite a few more. Anthropology tells us that wherever there is a truly multilingual society (i.e., where a dozen or a score of languages may be spoken, as in India or South Africa), many people speak five or six languages. Indeed, if five or six languages is what a natural environment can provide the passive mind in formation, how is it unreasonable to ask, in an age with advanced learning technology, that conscious application through the educational system should provide the same? 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ElComadreja Senior Member Philippines bibletranslatio Joined 7238 days ago 683 posts - 757 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Cebuano, French, Tagalog | Message 6 of 20 31 January 2005 at 7:57pm | IP Logged |
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Hmm, let's see 6000 languages, 1 lost per fortnight... Hey by the time I'm 83 I won't be able to talk to anyone!
--courtosy of your friendly math teacher 
2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| manna Groupie Kyrgyzstan Joined 7258 days ago 94 posts - 112 votes | Message 7 of 20 02 February 2005 at 3:15pm | IP Logged |
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Hehe, as if it was that easy with statistics...
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| ReQuest Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5032 days ago 200 posts - 228 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German, French Studies: Spanish | Message 8 of 20 01 November 2011 at 10:23pm | IP Logged |
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I don't think all languages will die out, I mean I can't see national languages disappear, unless a genocide occurs or something. Edited by ReQuest on 01 November 2011 at 10:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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