Question about saying

[MJ Hardman]

Thank you.  MJ

On 3/14/10 3:19 PM, "Alicia Fuentes-Calle" <alicia.fuentescalle at GMAIL.COM>
wrote:

> This sentence is by Malian author Amadou Hampâté Bâ, it goes  ³In Africa, when
> an old person dies, it is like a whole 
> library is being burned²
> 
> On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 8:08 PM, MJ Hardman <hardman at ufl.edu> wrote:
>> I believe in this list I first read a saying  regarding the death of a
>> speaker of a threatened language that goes something like:
>> When an elder dies a library dies.
>> Do any of you know this one, its origin and how it really goes?
>> I want to use this in regard to the death of my comadre.  Her loss does make
>> what we are trying to do in spite of the Ministry more difficult.  Just when
>> I thought we had a full good-faith commitment, they found a technical way to
>> postpone another year! Meanwhile, children are switching to Spanish without
>> the necessary commitment to the language required by use in the schools. Dr.
>> Bautista first knocked on the doors of the Ministry nearly 70, yes 70, years
>> ago.  After a few years he was sent to SIL (there being no linguistics
>> then); for one day he knew that writing his language was possible.  Then a
>> little over 50 years ago I appeared, and we started knocking on the doors
>> together.  As  a Peruvian friend explained, there are only us, the same
>> through all the years, while every year or two the Ministry changes people
>> and they can start the barrier arranging anew.  Even as the laws now say
>> language preservation, the action is language destruction.  I have been
>> wondering whether Dr. Bautista and I will manage to see this in our
>> lifetime.  70 years.  And one more library gone.  And they don't get it.
>> MJ
> 
> 

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