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Languages are going extinct. Good, bad, or indifferent?

What do you think of the fact that languages are dying out?

  • It's a good thing.

    Votes: 9 20.9%
  • It's a bad thing.

    Votes: 3 7.0%
  • It's a little of both.

    Votes: 18 41.9%
  • It's neither.

    Votes: 11 25.6%
  • I don't know.

    Votes: 2 4.7%

  • Total voters
    43

molten_dragon

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I haven't seen a thread on this and thought it was kind of interesting.

There was a report recently that up to half of the world's currently spoken languages are in danger of dying out in the next century. Here's an article about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/18cnd-language.html

The article paints it as a bad thing, but I'm not so sure it is. Fewer languages being spoken around the world means communication with other people gets easier.

What do you think?
 
Both bad and good. You lose a lot of culture and history, as well as an unique perspective when a language dies. Anyone who can speak a second or third language can tell you that there are noticeable differences between even similar languages that have an influence on you and your thinking in odds ways. From sayings that are specific to one language, to word plays and puns that are language specific, to even how you approach problem solving when thinking in different languages. It's fascinating stuff.

At the same time it's nice to be able to communicate with everyone regardless of their nationality.
 
Personally, I don't care.

But, yea, some culture is lost with that. However, initiatives have been launched to preserve dying languages in audio files and so on, so there's that.
 
Well, I've never been in a situation where being fluent in Swahili was critical. People still learn "dead" languages like latin, out of fascination or to prove whatever. I don't see this as a massive loss.

Culture is more than language, and it's inevitable that global connection with the internet and faster travel means a few or even just one language will dominate in the future. If i meet someone from Sweden, either we both can speak english or it's going to be inefficient as hell. Why? Cause the 2-3 Swedes i'll ever meet is not sufficient reason to learn Swedish. It's just a pain in the ass. Better off learning Spanish or Mandarin.

From Swedish point of view, there's plenty reason to learn English though. It's to the point my friend says if he has kids he won't bother teaching them Swedish. That's usually how anything related to culture becomes extinct. People stop caring to make the effort to preserve it. It's not worth lamenting when it's self induced.
 
Dying languages need to be preserved.
Just like useless seeds need to be saved and some people should learn to forge weld, tie knots, and use an abacus and slide rule.
 
Sounds like a natural evolution to me.
 
I haven't seen a thread on this and thought it was kind of interesting.

There was a report recently that up to half of the world's currently spoken languages are in danger of dying out in the next century. Here's an article about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/18cnd-language.html

The article paints it as a bad thing, but I'm not so sure it is. Fewer languages being spoken around the world means communication with other people gets easier.

What do you think?

Living in a small country with a native Maori population that is desperately holding onto their language (even lobbying to make it mandatory to dual label things at schools, etc.) I think that a language dying out is no big deal. Of course I am an insensitive white male from America who speaks the dominant English language... but why people would care is beyond me. It is easier to communicate, get around, order take-out and watch movies. In all honesty if the entire world went to French or Mandarin I wouldn't care either...
 
Dying languages need to be preserved.
Just like useless seeds need to be saved and some people should learn to forge weld, tie knots, and use an abacus and slide rule.

All abacus's need to be burned...
 
Well, I've never been in a situation where being fluent in Swahili was critical. People still learn "dead" languages like latin, out of fascination or to prove whatever. I don't see this as a massive loss.

I deal with international students from Europe, South America and Japan, mostly, and almost all the students speak, or want to speak, English well.
 
I haven't seen a thread on this and thought it was kind of interesting.

There was a report recently that up to half of the world's currently spoken languages are in danger of dying out in the next century. Here's an article about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/18cnd-language.html

The article paints it as a bad thing, but I'm not so sure it is. Fewer languages being spoken around the world means communication with other people gets easier.

What do you think?
I'm a fan of the Ender's Game novel series. In the 'Enderverce', all human worlds must conduct official buisness, write all laws, post all municipal signage, and comunicate with foreigners, Starways Common. Other languiges are allowed but are suplimental, and slang within Sarways Common is frowned upon.

IMO that reflects the utility of a universal business language.
 
I haven't seen a thread on this and thought it was kind of interesting.

There was a report recently that up to half of the world's currently spoken languages are in danger of dying out in the next century. Here's an article about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/18cnd-language.html

The article paints it as a bad thing, but I'm not so sure it is. Fewer languages being spoken around the world means communication with other people gets easier.

What do you think?

I don't know if it is good or bad. Languages evolve and get all mixed up as they are. There is no pure language. By that I mean I spent 10 years in Southeast Asia and learned Thai and Lao. In southern Thailand Thai is spoken, as you move further north a lot of Lao get mixed into their language, say from Korat north. Get up along the Mekong, Udorn, Ubon, Mukdahen, what some refer to as Issan, more Lao is spoken with some Thai mixed in. Across the river in Laos it is just the opposite, more Lao than Thai. But all of the people can understand each other and in Laos, they do understand Thai, especially along the Mekong. Get into the northern provinces of Laos, then you get tribal or mountain tribes languages mixed in with Lao and each tribe does have its own language.

I suppose what I am getting at, sooner or later all that region where I once served will probably be speaking pretty much the same language. Should we fret over the lost of say, pure Lao or Thai or the mountain tribes languages such as Hmong. I don't think so. Now English or English phrases are also part of Thai and Lao. As the world gets smaller, as more and more people from other lands visit, do business with etc. evolution of the languages takes place.

Now visit my house, I married a Thai, my oldest Daughter married a Laotian and they live right across the road from us. So in my house you will find when we talk it is in all three languages, Thai, Lao and English and usually words of each are mixed into the same sentence. It is not uncommon for the wife to say something in Thai, one of grandkids answer her in English or one of my oldest daughter family answer her in Lao or a combination of all three in their answer. It just happens and no one thinks about it.
 
The word has too many vowels...

... Vancouver Island?

Texada island. Three ferries from Vancouver and we call that insulation, not isolation.
 
Texada island. Three ferries from Vancouver and we call that insulation, not isolation.

Damn... 1,200 people and two little towns! And I thought I was isolated... :lol:

Beautiful area. I am in a remote part of Taranaki in New Zealand but we don't have to get on a ferry to get to a city... just drive 40 minutes, but then our city has 60,000 people and is nothing like Vancouver.
 
I don't know if it is good or bad. Languages evolve and get all mixed up as they are. There is no pure language. By that I mean I spent 10 years in Southeast Asia and learned Thai and Lao. In southern Thailand Thai is spoken, as you move further north a lot of Lao get mixed into their language, say from Korat north. Get up along the Mekong, Udorn, Ubon, Mukdahen, what some refer to as Issan, more Lao is spoken with some Thai mixed in. Across the river in Laos it is just the opposite, more Lao than Thai. But all of the people can understand each other and in Laos, they do understand Thai, especially along the Mekong. Get into the northern provinces of Laos, then you get tribal or mountain tribes languages mixed in with Lao and each tribe does have its own language.

I suppose what I am getting at, sooner or later all that region where I once served will probably be speaking pretty much the same language. Should we fret over the lost of say, pure Lao or Thai or the mountain tribes languages such as Hmong. I don't think so. Now English or English phrases are also part of Thai and Lao. As the world gets smaller, as more and more people from other lands visit, do business with etc. evolution of the languages takes place.

Now visit my house, I married a Thai, my oldest Daughter married a Laotian and they live right across the road from us. So in my house you will find when we talk it is in all three languages, Thai, Lao and English and usually words of each are mixed into the same sentence. It is not uncommon for the wife to say something in Thai, one of grandkids answer her in English or one of my oldest daughter family answer her in Lao or a combination of all three in their answer. It just happens and no one thinks about it.

Good evening, Pero. :2wave:

I can only hope that language specialists are recording the languages, for posterity, that are in danger of being lost. I am thinking of the Gullah language which is unheard outside of South Carolina. The people and their lifestyle is so unique that people have been studying them for years - they have become a tourist attraction, which makes money for their area. And wasn't it the Navajo language speakers during WW2 that totally confused our enemies, enabling our military to keep our plans secret? That unique language saved a lot of lives!
 
Good evening, Pero. :2wave:

I can only hope that language specialists are recording the languages, for posterity, that are in danger of being lost. I am thinking of the Gullah language which is unheard outside of South Carolina. The people and their lifestyle is so unique that people have been studying them for years - they have become a tourist attraction, which makes money for their area. And wasn't it the Navajo language speakers during WW2 that totally confused our enemies, enabling our military to keep our plans secret? That unique language saved a lot of lives!

That it was, the Navajo talkers. It doesn't bother me none to see some of these rather obscure languages disappear. But what does sadden me is none of the grand kids can speak Thai or Lao although they do understand them. But that is the price that is paid to become part of the melting pot.
 
And that's what makes English marvelous--it's a melting-pot language. Because it's more fluid than other languages, it thrives.

And I don't remember who posted this earlier, but Latin isn't quite dead.
 
Damn... 1,200 people and two little towns! And I thought I was isolated... :lol:

Beautiful area. I am in a remote part of Taranaki in New Zealand but we don't have to get on a ferry to get to a city... just drive 40 minutes, but then our city has 60,000 people and is nothing like Vancouver.

When I go to town it's a half-hour drive and 30 minute ferry to Powell River, pop. about 13,000. That's on the mainland but to go south to Vancouver from there means two ferries across inlets, like fjords. I've heard this coastline compared to New Zeeland- mountains rising out of the sea. It is a beautiful area and a decent climate.
My father travelled the world in the Merchant Marine and he said there's only two places worth living in- here and New Zeeland.
 

Here is the view from the beach outside my house... my house is just off picture to the right.

IMG_3994.jpg
 
Both bad and good. You lose a lot of culture and history, as well as an unique perspective when a language dies. Anyone who can speak a second or third language can tell you that there are noticeable differences between even similar languages that have an influence on you and your thinking in odds ways. From sayings that are specific to one language, to word plays and puns that are language specific, to even how you approach problem solving when thinking in different languages. It's fascinating stuff.

At the same time it's nice to be able to communicate with everyone regardless of their nationality.

True, but you will always have a plurality of languages.

The languages that are going extinct are you know, things like amazonian rainforest tribal language that is spoken by 300 people. A worthless language with no real alphabet, great works of literature, etc. In all things, those people would be better served by learning portugesse.

Or some other such languages. So no language that has a decent population on the map isn't going extinct and won't go extinct. Just the languages that are... you know... pointless.
Anyway, this isn't good or bad. It's neither. It's just the march of time.
 
So what?

Languages are for communication...everything else is gravy.

But, like so many things, humans become ridiculously attached to things they are used to and start fighting beyond reason to preserve them...like language.

If we woke up tomorrow and everyone spoke only one language, the world would be, IMO, better off because everyone would understand everyone.

Multiple languages separates humans; whereas language should bring people together.

Having tons of useless languages doesn't feed anyone or cure any disease of offer anyone shelter...they are useless and divisive.
 
Languages die all the time and have throughout history. Anyone speak Etruscan these days?
 
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