[language] [Fwd: [evol-psych] One world, one tongue]

[H.M. Hubey]

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Sp!ked
30 May 2002

One world, one tongue
Vive la différence

Patrick West

The publication of the book Language in Danger: How Language Loss
Threatens Our
Future, by Andrew Dalby, coincides with recent gloomy predictions from
Manchester University that 90 percent of the world's 5000 languages are
likely
to disappear by 2050. 'The linguistic equivalent of an ecological
disaster is
looming', concluded the UK Guardian - following claims that in 50 years'
time
we will all be speaking English, Hindi, Arabic, Mandarin or Spanish (1).

The wording here is revealing. 'Diversity' is considered to be
marvellous, for
ecologists, multiculturalists and linguists. But isn't the Guardian
getting
carried away with its metaphors? Diversity is certainly crucial
ecologically.
In a complex ecosystem, remove one part of the jigsaw and things may
fall
apart. If the frog has no flies to eat, there will be no frogs left.
With no
frogs, where will the crocodiles get their dinner? And so on.

But diversity in the human world is not always a good thing. Like its
evil
sister uniformity, diversity poses problems as well as benefits.

Full text
http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006D912.htm





__________

The Dawn of Human Culture
by Richard G. Klein, Blake Edgar
Hardcover: 288 pages; Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471252522
AMAZON - US
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471252522/darwinanddarwini/
AMAZON - UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471252522/humannaturecom/

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