Top 10 Language Stories of 2008

[David Metevia]

I completely agree and the reason we should not ban the speaking of a
particular language in school or anywhere.  Doing so limits
communicative flexibility (finding the right word or phrase) and the
spread of cultural knowledge.

David Metevia
-----Original Message-----
From: Randy Alexander
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 10:51
Subject: Re: Top 10 Language Stories of 2008

---------------------- Information from the mail header
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Poster:       Randy Alexander <strangeguitars at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Top 10 Language Stories of 2008
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On Sat, Jan 3, 2009 at 10:31 AM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com>
wrote:

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

According to that logic, yes, but if you'll look at what I wrote (a
question), that's not what I did.


> 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.


I'm not one to cry over dead languages, despite my researching a dying
one,
but I am one to cry over oppression, and that's the reason many
languages
die.  Language is the deepest part of any culture, and when cultures
die,
the world loses much of its richness.  When a language dies, we lose
windows
into those cultures.  Language death for any reason is par for the
course in
our civilization, but it's not usually a good thing, or even often a
neutral
thing, because it's not only the language that dies.

--
Randy Alexander
Jilin City, China
My Manchu studies blog:
http://www.bjshengr.com/manchu

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

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