30.1584, Music and Language Revitalization

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-30-1584. Wed Apr 10 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 30.1584, Music and Language Revitalization

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Editor for this issue: Everett Green <everett at linguistlist.org>
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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2019 23:20:50
From: LINGUIST List [linguist at linguistlist.org]
Subject: Music and Language Revitalization

 
Hello Linguist Listers,

Previously my fellow colleagues wrote about Language Revitalization in the
context of modern-day technologies and cinema. These are both powerful
methodologies for galvanizing interest in foreign languages and subsequently
assisting with language revitalization efforts. Today I would like to talk
about language revitalization in the context of one more medium and that is
music. As we all know music is one of the most powerful tools for evoking
emotion in our fellow humans. From rousing classical symphonies like
Beethoven's 5th to more ambient, future-oriented electronic pieces, music can
evoke not only a wide range of emotions but also times and places in the minds
of listeners. These qualities make music, not only a perfect vehicle for
expressing oneself but also a great way of expressing one's language and
culture. As a matter of fact, music is so good at this that it has already
shown results in sparking interest in foreign languages. "A desire to learn
the lyrics of K-Pop hits like Gangnam Style has boosted the Korean language's
popularity explode [sic] in countries like the US, Canada, Thailand and
Malaysia" reads the opening line of an article from the BBC, detailing the
increase in interest in the Korean language. It is true that Korean is not an
endangered language but this is an example of the kinds of media that help to
get people interested in languages and the cultures that they are tied to.

One more example of this is the current most-played song in the history of
YouTube which is Despacito by Luis Fonsi. It is also the most viewed YouTube
video of all time. Period. I could not find any articles detailing the impact
of this song on language learning but I suspect that it has a similar effect
to what we see with Korean and K-pop music. To speak momentarily from personal
experience, I have always had a latent interest in the Japanese language. This
was almost undoubtedly sparked by my early exposure to anime which is a form
of Japanese animation that has gained a large following in the west. When I
was a child, my Father would watch the shows with my younger brother and I and
we always thoroughly enjoyed the opening and ending themes to the shows. These
musical themes were frequently in Japanese and over time I began to enjoy the
songs on their own. The tools to learn Japanese were not quite as easily
available at the time but, as my colleague mentioned, the technology of today
is central to language learning and it has allowed me to indulge my interest
in the language (when I have time, which is a rare occurrence lol).

All-in-all, I believe that music and other art forms offer a powerful method
for exposing people to foreign cultures and languages and that we should
leverage these as much as we can in order to prop up, protect, and revitalize
as many endangered languages as possible. These languages are disappearing at
an alarming rate and this is just one of the many ways in which we can promote
linguistic and cultural diversity in a world that definitely needs it.

Thanks so much for reading our blog and keep doing great work!

Sincerely,

Everett G.






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