Top 10 Language Stories of 2008

Tom Zurinskas truespel at HOTMAIL.COM
Sat Jan 3 15:31:06 UTC 2009


And is one a hateful namecaller to say someone is a hateful namecaller if they call someone a hateful namecaller?

There are over 6,900 languages I am told.  They'll only be preserved if they are used.  If they're not used, just close the book and put it and the audio media on the shelf.



Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
Learn truespel in 15 minutes at http://tinypaste.com/76f44










----------------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 22:08:42 -0500
> From: strangeguitars at GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: Top 10 Language Stories of 2008
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Randy Alexander
> Subject: Re: Top 10 Language Stories of 2008
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 9:50 PM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:
>
>> As I understand it, languages die out from lack of use.
>>
>
> Ignorance is bliss, huh? Languages die out for many different reasons.
> Manchu is dying out because all of the Manchu speakers were forced to learn
> Mandarin after the fall of the Qing dynasty. They were afraid to even say
> that they were Manchu, because that would associate them with the dynasty.
> Many Manchus even changed their identification materials to say that they
> were Han (the predominant ethnicity) instead of Manchu.
>
>
>> Would you say that it's important to force educating folks into a language
>> just to preserve it?
>>
>
> I don't think anyone's saying that. Some people want to preserve their own
> language because it's their native language, and they want to pass it on to
> their descendants. And their descendants want to learn it because it's part
> of their heritage.
>
>
>> That to me would be officiously arrogant. Languages just cease to exist
>> because of disuse. Why worry about it? Don't be a hateful namecaller
>> either.
>>
>
> Isn't it being a hateful namecaller to call someone a hateful namecaller?
>
> For more information on a dying language and attempts at its preservation,
> see my blog, below.
>
> --
> Randy Alexander
> Jilin City, China
> My Manchu studies blog:
> http://www.bjshengr.com/manchu
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
_________________________________________________________________
Send e-mail faster without improving your typing skills.
http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_speed_122008

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list