6.1408, Disc: Language and Dialect, Linguistic Human Rights

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-1408. Thu Oct 12 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  64
 
Subject: 6.1408, Disc: Language and Dialect, Linguistic Human Rights
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Associate Editor:  Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
Assistant Editors: Ron Reck <rreck at emunix.emich.edu>
                   Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
                   Annemarie Valdez <avaldez at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Software development: John H. Remmers <remmers at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Editor for this issue: lveselin at emunix.emich.edu (Ljuba Veselinova)
 
---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Wed, 11 Oct 1995 17:20:58 CDT
From:  Kathleen_March at voyager.umeres.maine.edu (Kathleen March)
Subject:  Re: 6.1394, Disc: Language and Dialect
 
2)
Date:  Tue, 10 Oct 1995 09:38:09 EDT
From:  kvt at husc.harvard.edu (Karl Teeter)
Subject:  Linguistic Human Rights
 
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1)
Date:  Wed, 11 Oct 1995 17:20:58 CDT
From:  Kathleen_March at voyager.umeres.maine.edu (Kathleen March)
Subject:  Re: 6.1394, Disc: Language and Dialect
 
Celso's remarks concerning Galician/Galizan are some of the most sensible to
be heard in a long time. Those of us who know the situation in this
geographical area must either start listening or talking to each other
seriously.  Kathleen March
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2)
Date:  Tue, 10 Oct 1995 09:38:09 EDT
From:  kvt at husc.harvard.edu (Karl Teeter)
Subject:  Linguistic Human Rights
 
Dear Colleagues:  I have found myself recently wondering whether there
really is a proper separate subject matter for LINGUISTIC human rights as
against human rights in general. With languages alone, we are already
dealing with a situation where there are over 6000 of them, and LESS THAN 1%
are even granted the minimal recognition of having a writing
system.  Much as I believe that everybody should have a recorded literary
tradition to refer to, it all begins with the ability to record one's
literary tradition.  In recognition of languages, we have advanced little
if at all from the days when Ken Pike subtitled his textbook PHONEMICS "A
Technique for Reducing Languages to Writing". We are still at a stage
where our efforts might well be primarily directed to tasks such as this,
basic linguistics.  Once people have the option of being able to write
they have an important tool to demand their human rights. Without it all
of the pontificating about LINGUISTIC human rights simply goes on in
disregard of almost everybody in the world. Somebody react, please; this
is just my off-the-cuff feelings about a number of the messages I have
recently read here on this subject!  Yours, kvt (=Karl V. Teeter,
Professor of Linguistics, Emeritus, Harvard University)
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