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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=HR link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Dear Lena,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>You initiated a interesting discussion, that's always usefull.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I strongly agree with your conception, and can only suggest to you (cause now I'm preparing an exhibiton as a curator too) that you hold on to your conception cause everybody have right for his/her own opinion, but this exhibition is your work and your presentation of the topic. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Good luck with your exhibiton, hope it will be available on net!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Kind regards to you and all!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Irena Kolbas<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Endangered Languages List [mailto:ENDANGERED-LANGUAGES-L@listserv.linguistlist.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Lena Terhart<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, September 04, 2013 11:13 AM<br><b>To:</b> ENDANGERED-LANGUAGES-L@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: museum exhibit: endangered languages<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thanks Elaine and Irena for sharing your experience with musealization of the topic.<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Collecting words of different languages for the same concept/object also came to my mind in the first place. However, I resigned the idea, because it may be impossible for some languages to find a word that totally matches the concept in question. There may be several words focussing on different aspects of the concept or there may not be a word at all. In addition, speakers may use a loan to refer to exactly this one concept and therefore the collected word would not be the best choice to represent the language. Moreover, there are practical reasons against it: Remember that I also asked for sound files, if possible. I guess it would be even harder to find sound files of a predetermined word or cut the specific word from a longer discourse.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Let me sum up the arguments that speak for and against the coffin/death metaphor.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Arguments of the opponents of a coffin/death image:<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>- discrimination because languages are not dead + the fact that dying is irreversible negates revitalization efforts<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>- should be avoided to prevent a self-fulfilling prophecy<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>- negativity of the image: people should not be confronted with it, because they may want to avoid the whole topic if it is presented negatively and children should not be confronted with such negative images at all<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Arguments of the supporters of a coffin/death image:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>- negative image is appropriate to represent a negative issue<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Although the mass and kind of reactions from people that work hard to revitalize languages teaches us that there is hope for some languages, we should not forget that there is still a big number of languages that cease to be transmitted to the next generations, that are hardly spoken anymore, and that do not necessarily leave any material for future revitalization efforts.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Perhaps many reactions would have been less emotional, if I had proposed to exhibit a coffin with a label "linguistic diversity" printed on or in it. Let me repeat that I never had the intention to classify any of the languages as dead or dying, but considered the words I wanted to fill the coffin with to represent diversity.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Some of you liked the picture of the three trees in different states of health as proposed by Christian Chiarcos. The problem with the three trees is that the classificatory interpretation is inherent, even more inherent than in a single coffin and I don't have the will, nor do I think I have the right or the expertise to decide how to sort the languages onto the tree(s). Imagine a language is learnt by children, yet there is only a small number of speakers, no educational material and pressure from a "bigger" language, where should I put the language? Onto the healthy tree, because there are young speakers? Or onto the drought-strucken tree, because its future is more uncertain than that of the big languages? And where on the perishing tree should I put a language with a few speakers and at least some material or beginning efforts of revitalization? Closer to the vital or closer to the dead end of the tree? Whatever I would decide, it could only lead to people being offended even more.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>The pictures of hope that some of you want to paint are certainly very beautiful and they are appropriate if people already know about language endangerment. But this is not the case for the general public in Germany. Hope? Yes. But what for?<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>I will meet the curator of the exhibition tomorrow. I am keeping her informed about the ongoing discussion. She knows more about space and budget constraints and about how to fit the exhibit into the general concept of the exhibition. I hope that we can come up with more concrete ideas of realization.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Lena<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Am 03.09.2013 um 20:53 schrieb Elaine Gold:<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><br><br><o:p></o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>I've been following this discussion with some interest because two years ago a group of linguists founded 'The Canadian Language Museum' with a goal of sharing the richness of the languages of Canada with the general public. So far we have created two travelling exhibits (one on Canadian English, one on the Inuit language) and are preparing exhibits on Canadian French and Cree. We continue to grapple with the question of how best to present information about languages that the viewers don't speak in a way that will keep their interest. So I will throw in my two cents!<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Regardless of the central image you use (coffin/phoenix/tree) I am concerned about having the exhibit made up of a large variety of unrelated words in a large number of languages. I worry that the glut of information will be overwhelming for the viewer if it is not organized in some way. I have found that visitors to exhibits about language like numbers, maps, writing systems and a clear message. With respect to numbers, you might already be planning to give the number of languages (approximately) currently spoken and how quickly they are disappearing. Maps showing where these languages are spoken would definitely be a bonus! Children could try their hands at different writing systems. And for a clear message - you might want to consider having the same concept represented in different languages and connecting it to German – eg. In German we say 'Tisch' but here are 50 different words for Tisch'. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Another question that you might want to answer is – why should the viewer care that these languages are disappearing? Can't people express themselves as well in German or English or Mandarin? Can the exhibit communicate a reason to care? I personally prefer a theme that will celebrate the diversity of languages rather than focus on death.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Since the exhibit is opening on September 16, there really isn't much time for changing the exhibit content. I do think it's wonderful that the Children's Museum is creating this exhibit about language and is including information about endangered languages.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Elaine Gold, University of Toronto<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Chair, Canadian Language Museum<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>