Why Save Dying Languages? (fwd link)

[phil cash cash]

October 29, 2009, 6:32 AM
NYT

Why Save Dying Languages?

Today’s idea: “Would it be inherently evil if there were not 6,000 spoken
languages but one?” It’s illogical to try to save dying languages, a linguist
and commentator says.

Language | “The going idea among linguists and anthropologists is that we must
keep as many languages alive as possible, and that the death of each one is
another step on a treadmill toward humankind’s cultural oblivion,” writes John
McWhorter in the journal World Affairs.

Access full article below:
http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/why-save-dying-languages/