From: N.R.Liwal (liwal@liwal.com)
Date: Sat Mar 26 2005 - 08:55:43 CST
I am very thankful to all for their contributions,
Regards.
Liwal
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald Z. Osborn" <dzo@bisharat.net>
To: <unicode@unicode.org>
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 11:38 PM
Subject: Re: Languages of the world
> Many factors, as Asmus points out, enter into the decline of languages. In
> addition to those he mentions are language and education policies which
> serve
> to undermine or devalue the use of certain languages. Sometimes these are
> expressedly assimilationist policies designed to reduce or eliminate
> minority
> language use, and other times the policies may have a higher expressed aim
> (often influenced by a monolingual-state paradigm) but still end up
> marginalizing many maternal languages in public life and hastening the
> process
> of language loss in local cultures.
>
> Obviously the attitudes and actions of the native speakers themselves are
> central. Here too many factors, ideas, and influences are involved. But
> two
> deserve attention: first, in many cases, people take their language and
> culture for granted, which these days often translates to neglect of
> informal
> educational ways that long were part of the life of the language/culture
> (without those being replaced by other perhaps more formal educational
> approaches); and second, the lack of apparent conflict around the
> sublimation
> of languages and cultures is often not as benign a process as it may seem
> from
> outside (a case could be made that they are generally "non-conflicts").
> The
> role of the outsider in issues of language survival and revitalization
> (processes to which the existence of Unicode contributes) is complex and
> delicate, but begins with raising awareness about what is happening and
> why,
> different ways of thinking about linguistic diversity (and
> multilingualism),
> and appropriate paths of action.
>
> One additional thought about language loss: one could see the cost to a
> people
> of loss of its maternal language as a loss of "esprit" (the French term
> has an
> interesting range of use which seems to me to go beyond that of its
> literal
> English translation of spirit, as illustrated in the loan term, esprit de
> corps). While there are tangible losses in terms of knowledge and
> expression,
> loss of a language arguably also entails a deeper loss to the sense of
> being of
> a people, and as such to humanity as a whole.
>
> For those interested in pursuing this discussion, you're invited to join a
> list
> set up to deal with such questions and related ones surrounding language
> development (which for the moment features mainly forwarded articles):
> "MINEL"
> at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MINEL/
>
> By way of disclaimer, I am in no way an expert on endangered languages or
> language revitalization, but in the course of other language-related work
> have
> become interested in this subject area (it also links to an earlier
> interest in
> the dynamics of tradition and development, but that would really take us
> offtopic...).
>
> Don Osborn
> Bisharat.net
>
>
>
> Quoting Asmus Freytag
>
> <asmusf@ix.netcom.com>:
>>
>> >If a culture dies with [its] language, what [do] we loose if a language
>> dies?
>> >
>> >For each language lost, a unique interpretation of the cosmos is lost.
>> >Each language has a unique way of carving up the universe, making sense
>> >of
>> >reality, relating to other humans and the environment, expressing a
>> >literature or a mythology. Monolinguals rarely have any idea what this
>> >means
>>
>> Sometimes the simple fact is that the (sub-)culture is dying or
>> stagnating,
>> and there is less for speakers to express.
>>
>> If a language is bound to a rural or even nomadic culture, but modern
>> life
>> finds the descendants in an urban environment, there may be little,
>> except
>> for religion, of daily life that can be meaningfully communicated in it.
>>
>> Add to that rapid technological change, and sooner or later even
>> reasonably
>> sized communities have to work at maintaining a native vocabulary. And
>> not
>> all of them are as aggressive about it as the Icelanders ;-)
>>
>> A./
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
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