Are languages really worth preserving?

Guest   Fri May 23, 2008 11:03 pm GMT
<<I think Xie has some good points, although I don't know what p2p is.>>


Don't you use emule to download porn?
Guest   Fri May 23, 2008 11:24 pm GMT
oh, now I get it.
Xie   Sat May 24, 2008 12:59 am GMT
>>And by the way, languages have been dying since the dawn of humanity, so I don't buy this 'loss of civilisation' claim... Language death is natural. And it will continue into the future until the end of humanity, whenever that may be...

But in real terms, it's equally discouraging to see my own senior relatives who "can't" teach their descendants, citing economic considerations. I shall be more understanding about their sufferings for being forced to speak some language natively and learn some others...
J.C.   Sun May 25, 2008 4:20 pm GMT
I understand the importance of the native languages and the tradition they stand for but, on the other hand, the existence of many languages in a country can be the root of bitterness and a hindrance to union just like in the European (des)Union.
"Com a recente admissão dos dez novos membros, chegaram também nove novos idiomas, para os quais os documentos terão que ser traduzidos. Outro elemento complicador da engrenagem eurocrática é a necessidade de rotação da presidência do Conselho, a cada 6 meses exercida por um país. Embora a estrutura central fique em Bruxelas, a cada semestre desloca-se parte do centro do Poder para a capital da vez. A estrutura do Parlamento Europeu também contribui para a confusão administrativa. Os cerca de 700 deputados alternam sessões em Bruxelas, em Estrasburgo e em Luxemburgo." Taken from http://www.midiasemmascara.org/artigo.php?sid=2216
I'm glad that only Portuguese is spoken in Brazil (At least in daily life and administration or if the person wants to get a job) even though still there are many languages out there which were spoken by my ancestors. I can imagine the mess caused if most people in Brazil spoke Portuguese, Tupi-Guarani and an African language as their native language...It seems that 2 languages were spoken in Brazil until 1759, when the jesuits were expelled from Brazil:
"Ao lado do português existe a língua geral, que é o tupi, principal língua indígena das regiões costeiras, mas um tupi simplificado, gramaticalizado pelos jesuítas e, destarte, tornado uma língua comum."(História da Língua Portuguesa pg.94). Looks like native and settlers' language got along well in Paraguai, where people speak Guarani(There are words similar to Japanese and it seems Koreans living in Paraguai learn Guarani faster than Spanish) and Spanish.
Cheers
European   Sun May 25, 2008 4:52 pm GMT
When Alsatians stop speaking the language of their fathers it is a sad loss for the German culture but a big enrichment of the French culture. For the Alsatians themselves, it is surely a loss not to be able to understand their own literature, on the other hand they win the possibility to make successful business and carreers in France....
Guest   Sun May 25, 2008 5:57 pm GMT
another language dying: spanish-jewish language
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=HQEeof7QtGg&NR=1
Guest   Sun May 25, 2008 6:50 pm GMT
The 'languages' that I think should die, are those that are extremely similar to major languages; theres no point in keeping them alive.

It seems foolish to me that people would be so protective of 'languages' with only cosmetic differences from major ones. Ladino (the example given above), is just a dialect and those people should just swallow their pride, and speak spanish.Theres no reason there should be 42 + romance langues, since the majority are redundant.
Guest   Sun May 25, 2008 6:56 pm GMT
Good point. Humans are redundant as well. I think we are in a society that nothing matters. Whatever happens is the same. It's not important preserving languages , animals,etc . We're faster destroying things than creating them.
K. T.   Sun May 25, 2008 7:24 pm GMT
Alsatians have Germany next door and it suits them to keep up some sort of linguistic link with Germans even if they claim not to like them so much. It's a weird situation. The cultural link is there, but not the national shame of being willingly involved with the Nazis.
knocked (up)   Sun May 25, 2008 7:26 pm GMT
Spanish is just a dialect of ladino and hispanics should just swallow their pride and speak ladino!
Guest   Sun May 25, 2008 7:27 pm GMT
"It's not important preserving languages , animals,etc"

Actually, I think it's more important to preserve animals than languages, but I'm not against preserving languages as long as there are speakers. It's the responsibility of the parents to pass on their language. If it isn't important or if they don't want to risk passing it on because the national government doesn't approve of their language, then it will be lost.
K. T.   Sun May 25, 2008 7:29 pm GMT
Ladino sounds basically like Spanish to me. I know that this is a cultural distinction for some Jewish people, but I doubt that it would take more than a week for Spanish speakers to learn the added vocabulary. If I'm out of line, please tell me why you think I'm wrong about this.
K. T.   Sun May 25, 2008 7:32 pm GMT
"Com a recente admissão dos dez novos membros, chegaram também nove novos idiomas, para os quais os documentos terão que ser traduzidos."

I have wondered about this several times. Their unity is splintered by the need to include everyone. Can they really do this?
K. T.   Sun May 25, 2008 7:35 pm GMT
Nice tune, btw.
Guest   Sun May 25, 2008 7:43 pm GMT
You're right K.T. it's old spanish that can be perfectly understood paying a bit of attention. However this is 100% understandable without any effort : http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=zBz7cFnRFuI&feature=related
Live "at David tower, Jerusalem" 2006.