No Tears For Dead Tongues (fwd link)

[phil cash cash]

Jordan, yes, the timing seems suspect given the UNESCO's Feb 21 International
Mother Language Day.   
Besides, I disagree with his assessment that the death of a language is a
"healthy outcome" since many of us know that such occurences often coincide
with the suppression of human rights.  And this could not be healthy for
anyone. 
l8ter,
Phil
Quoting Jordan Lachler :

> Phil, thanks for forwarding McWhorter's piece from Forbes.  He wrote nearly
> the same article back in December of 2006 for the New York Sun:
>
> http://www.nysun.com/article/45847
>
> I guess if he gets to reword and republish that same basic article every
> time another language dies, he's set for life!
>
> I'm really glad that he's figured out for us that Native Americans will
> never learn their ancestral languages... after all, he tried teaching some
> of them once, and they didn't learn to be fluent, so clearly it's a hopeless
> cause. Guess we can all stop wasting our time now. Thanks, Dr. M!
>
> Jordan
>
> On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 9:11 AM, phil cash cash wrote:
>
>> Language
>> No Tears For Dead Tongues
>>
>> John McWhorter 02.21.08, 6:00 PM ET
>>
>> No one will again use the word demexch, which refers to a soft spot in the
>> ice
>> good for fishing. Never again will anyone hear the word for an evergreen
>> branch, which, when pronounced correctly, includes a sound like the wind
>> whistling through a branch. And no child will ever learn that the squirrel
>> scampering around gathering acorns is called something as fun to say as ,
>> where
>> the final k' is pronounced with a crisp pop.
>>
>> Full article link below:
>>
>>
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/21/language-death-english-tech-cx_jm_language_sp08_0221death.html?feed=rss_news
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Jordan


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