Date post: | 24-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | caroline-bruce |
View: | 217 times |
Download: | 0 times |
Key Issue#4 - Why Do People Preserve Local Languages?• What is bio-diversity?
• Is bio-diversity being threatened?• WHY?
• Is the loss of bio-diversity a problem? • What are people doing about it?
__________________________________• Is linguistic-diversity being threatened?
• WHY? • Is the loss of linguistic-diversity a problem?
• What are people doing about it?Why Do People Preserve Local Languages? SHOULD THEY?
Language DiversityMultilingualism threatens national unity• Nigeria – 527 languages; Yoruba (Xtian), Hausa (Muslim)
• 1976 - capital city moved from Lagos (Yoruba region) to Abuja (center• National unity in small country is practically impossible• Forward Thrust Capitals –
• U.S.A. – N.Y.C. to D.C. (1800)• Russia – Moscow to St. Petersburg back to Moscow (1918)• Canada – Toronto and Quebec City to Ottawa (1857)• Australia – Canberra (1927) – between Melbourne & Sydney• India – Calcutta to New Delhi (1947)• Brazil – Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia (1961)• Turkey – Istanbul to Ankara (1923)• Pakistan – Karachi to Islamabad (1960s)
• Belgium – 2 autonomous regions defined by language• Wallonia (Walloons) speak French – dominant• Flanders (Flemings) speak Dutch dialect “Flemish”
• applied political pressure for official recognition• Want separatism; devolution – would be one of Europe richest countries
Multilingual conflicts, continued• Québécois – “Vive le Quebec!”
• Radical pro-French policies – Commission on Toponyme renamed all places in Quebec with French names; non-French signs banned (“Arret” for “Stop”)
• Separatist movement – Quebec granted regional autonomy in 1995• “Quebec as a Nation”
• Switzerland – 4 official languages• German (65%), French (18%), Italian (10%), Romansh (1%)• Federal System – decentralized govt. – local autonomy
Decentralized government in Switzerland
back
back
“I always say that if ever I believed Canada was really Stephen Harper's Canada - that we were heading against abortion, against gay marriage, that we were going backwards 10,000 different ways - maybe I would think about wanting to make Quebec an independent country.”
Justin Trudeau, Montreal MP, son of former anti-separatist Prime minister, Pierre Trudeau
Preserving Language Diversity• Extinct languages• Latin – Roman Empire• Amerindian – replaced by English and Spanish• Gothic – East Germanic language
• Revived (extinct) Languages (The Linguists)• Hebrew (Jewish Diaspora), Aramaic & Arabic replaced it in Palestine – Hebrew
returned to Palestine with formation of Israel in 1948 – invented over 4,000 new words for new technology (street sign)
• Celtic (Gaelic, Welsh, Irish) – (Welsh) (longest word in the world)• local pride (nationalism) “heritage” – common historical experience• youth revival – desire to establish unique identity• Separatism / Local autonomy – laws protect local languages
• Isolated languages• Basque (Euskara) - Pamplona• Icelandic - isolation makes it most unchanged language in Germanic Branch –
settled by Norwegians in 874 A.D.• Koisan (San Bushman) – “hottentot”; “click” languages (Africa)• Inuit (Eskimo)
NPR- Digital Technologies Give Dying Languages New Life
PBS - Enduring Voices Project
Additional Threats to Folk LanguagesWhat happens when 2 language groups come in contact?• Lingua franca – existing language mutually understood and used in
commerce by people of different native languages. ***• Global dominance of English
• 90% of EU students learn English• 500 million ESL • English words in other native languages
• Franglais, Spanglish, Denglish (next slide)
• Other regional lingua franca• Swahili - East Africa• Hindustani - South Asia• Indonesian – Southeast Asia• Russian – former Soviet Union
back
Global Dominance of English
Franglais, Spanglish, DenglishExpansion Diffusion
• Franglais (francais + anglais)• Cowboy, hamburger, jeans, t-shirt
• Spanglish (“Cubonics”) – Sofia Vergara• Chores = Shorts• Bacuncliner = Vacuum cleaner• Parquin = parking (instead of estacionamiento)• i-meiliar = e-mail someone
• Denglish (German / Deutsch + English)• Herzlichen Gluuuckwunsch zum Geburtstag = happy birthday• Rebooten = reboot the computer• Streetworker = social worker / Trampen = hitchhiker
• Japanese + English• Beisboru = baseball• Naifu = knife• Sutoroberi keki = strawberry cake
• Chenglish (Chinese + English) – article back
back
Pidgin Languages
• Pidgin language – invented language that combines two native languages to allow two peoples to converse. (lingua franca)• No rules of grammar• No literature (not written)• No native speakers • Can evolve into a language (creole)
• Swahili (East Africa)• Pidgin English (Nigeria)
• back