This article (after I had to read about A. Coulter, which was like a train wreck from which I could not avert my eyes) reminded me about the extinction of language.
Think for a moment about the importance of language. I will also start right out of the box to remind that language is a system as is music, mathematics...you get the picture, by which we express the conceptual activity of our brains. I cannot say that I'm bringing to you a depth of knowledge, but rather a very cursory (and likely inaccurate) view on this subject.
Language is the backbone of our brain activity evolution--the infrastructure in which our thought rests because we can organize our thoughts and in which we are able to communicate thoughts. It is highly likely that with the expansion of our ability to communicate we turbo-charged the brains evolutionary development. Now, think about all of the different languages there are. Each of these languages have a unique expression of the brain's ability to conceptualize. So while you may not find it deleterious that a language goes extinct, from a global cultural perspective, it is a huge loss. You lose a scrap of evidential matter that captures a unique evolutionary trend in the brain's conceptualization.
If one is to believe Ray Kurzweil and the Law of Accelerating Returns and Transhumanism that we will eventually be at one with the great computers, such a scenario offers an incredible turbo charge to our ability to think and share ideas (both the manner in which we share--likely no translation needed by ourselves, but rather it happens in cyberspace--and the speed in which we share.)
But think about this....language and other systems (music, math) are how the brain expresses its conceptualization. For all we know, the brain has no limit on its ability to conceptualize, but rather the limit is in the systems (vehicles if you will) it uses to express such conceptualizations. So if you hear about the loss of language, the loss of a chariot in our brain evolution race, please think about what that means. And when you hear about far-out means in which we can strengthen our abilities to communicate our conceptualizations, think, too, about what that means.
8 comments:
I once spent a winter living in a Swiss village. I got a job in a local cafe and spent the rest of my time skiing.
I learned to speak French because I really, really studied (the cafe was slow during the day so I memorized, memorized, memorized vocabulary, etc., etc.) Moreover, almost NO ONE in the village spoke English. (Literally: only two people spoke English -- and only a little.) Talk about total immersion!
But there was also a language that all the older people spoke. It was one of those mountain languages that everyone had once spoken. I was saddened to realize that none of the younger people spoke the language, although they could understand it. I, too, began to understand it better than not by the time I left the village.
I'm quite sure that the language is now lost. At one time it was widely spoken in the region; there had even been a newspaper published and distributed throughout the mountain villages in the language, I was told by the old-timers. (I asked a lot about the language.) But by the time I arrived, there was no Old Language (only papers in French, which I devoured) and only the older generation spoke the language any more. The younger people listened in, understanding but not speaking. If they contributed, they contributed in French.
I was in the village -- Veysonnez was its name -- only because my cousins had a chalet there. I visited to ski, learned about the job in a cafe, applied (I was the only applicant, so I was hired) and I stayed for the winter. For the cafe owners -- a lovely family who came to visit me the following year when I lived in Florence, Italy (another cousin!) -- there was a certain exotic quality about having an American -- an American! -- work for them in their cafe. I was young and able to do those kinds of (some would say foolish) things.
I don't regret my foolish choices.
I'll always remember the lessons learned from that winter -- and there were many.
I'll always feel a sadness for the things lost -- such as the mountain language, which I'm sure (by now) is lost for good -- as well as the whole way of life that was part of the village.
Finally, I'll always be grateful that I was so foolish as to throw caution to the wind and spend that winter in Veyzonnez.
Ah, foolishness!
~ Nona
PS: Another thing that fascinated me. The village was so small that my arrival had a percentage effect on the demographics. There were fewer than 500 families living there. In fact, the number may have been fewer than 500 PEOPLE living there.
The matter that most fascinated me?
Three words on any envelope or postcard (with appropriate postage): Nona, Veysonnez, Suisse -- just three words! -- would have distinguished me from the billions on our planet.
I would have received the mail.
Nona--what a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it. I'm envious of you for the summertime experience. It is priceless.
~Nona:
Was it Romansh?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language
Apperentyl you learned Swiss French apparently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_French
Whoops! Posted the same URL twice.
Here is the correct one for Swiss-French.
That was it, Russell! Romansh -- but I didn't know how to spell it. Now that I read the Wikipedia entry, I can see that any one of my spellings would have been acceptable!
And, yes, the French I learned was Swiss.
Then when I moved to Italy, I learned the Florentine-accented Italian. And believe me: there is serious snobbery about that matter. You do not want your Italian to have a hint of a Neopolitan accent, for example. Even Rome was a bit too far south, but acceptable.
Another language "thing" in Europe": American English is vaguely considered second-class. The "real" English -- and accent --is British and THAT accent should be King's.
I have boycotted the Italian language, and now I know why. I can occasionally pick up what is being said or written because of my ad-hoc ability with Spanish.
I wonder if their is an on-line translator for Romansh? I'll bet if you show up in Romansh territory speaking their lingo, they wouldn't let you buy yourself a drink. Given your facility with all these languages, you may want to consider the high free drink to effort quotient.
I wish I could show up in Veyzonnez speaking FRENCH! Ya gotta keep up the languages or you lose 'em.
I never did learn to speak Romansh but I did begin to understand it by the time I left. I didn't hear it spoken much -- it was only by evesdropping as the older people sat around chatting in Romansh that I became familiar with its sound. Moreover, there was nothing available in writing (as there was for French) for me to study. The old Romansh language mountain paper had long ago ceased publication.
I've spoken four languages fluently.
I am now limited to English -- which, btw, is my SECOND language. I even have an American English accent when I speak my first language (Spanish). Worse, my vocabulary is very limited. I need total immersion again for several months to speak Spanish really well again. I never speak it. Alas.
Well, I think that this post gets the highest number of comments.
When I travelled on my wine tour, our professional guide, Franca, was fluent in 7 languages or so and had a classical education. Her English, which was perfect, had a lovely British accent, as did all of the other guides.
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