Death of language
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:25 pm
BBC Today programme
'An estimated 7,000 languages are being spoken around the world. But that number is expected to shrink rapidly in the coming decades. What is lost when a language dies?'
'The value of language as a cultural artefact is difficult to dispute, but is it actually realistic to ask small communities to retain their culture?
'One linguist, Professor Salikoko Mufwene, of the University of Chicago, has argued that the social and economic conditions among some groups of speakers "have changed to points of no return".
As cultures evolve, he argues, groups often naturally shift their language use. Asking them to hold onto languages they no longer want is more for the linguists' sake than for the communities themselves.
Ethnologue editor Paul Lewis, however, argues that the stakes are much higher. Because of the close links between language and identity, if people begin to think of their language as useless, they see their identity as such as well.
This leads to social disruption, depression, suicide and drug use, he says. And as parents no longer transmit language to their children, the connection between children and grandparents is broken and traditional values are lost.
"There is a social and cultural ache that remains, where people for generations realize they have lost something," he says.
What no-one disputes is that the demise of languages is not always the fault of worldwide languages like our own
An increasing number of communities are giving up their language by their own choice, says Claude Hagege. Many believe that their languages have no future and that their children will not acquire a professional qualification if they teach them tribal languages.
"We can do nothing when the abandonment of a language corresponds to the will of a population," he says.'
A bheil e ceart?
Tuilleadh an seo:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/ne ... 311069.stm
'An estimated 7,000 languages are being spoken around the world. But that number is expected to shrink rapidly in the coming decades. What is lost when a language dies?'
'The value of language as a cultural artefact is difficult to dispute, but is it actually realistic to ask small communities to retain their culture?
'One linguist, Professor Salikoko Mufwene, of the University of Chicago, has argued that the social and economic conditions among some groups of speakers "have changed to points of no return".
As cultures evolve, he argues, groups often naturally shift their language use. Asking them to hold onto languages they no longer want is more for the linguists' sake than for the communities themselves.
Ethnologue editor Paul Lewis, however, argues that the stakes are much higher. Because of the close links between language and identity, if people begin to think of their language as useless, they see their identity as such as well.
This leads to social disruption, depression, suicide and drug use, he says. And as parents no longer transmit language to their children, the connection between children and grandparents is broken and traditional values are lost.
"There is a social and cultural ache that remains, where people for generations realize they have lost something," he says.
What no-one disputes is that the demise of languages is not always the fault of worldwide languages like our own
An increasing number of communities are giving up their language by their own choice, says Claude Hagege. Many believe that their languages have no future and that their children will not acquire a professional qualification if they teach them tribal languages.
"We can do nothing when the abandonment of a language corresponds to the will of a population," he says.'
A bheil e ceart?
Tuilleadh an seo:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/ne ... 311069.stm