General Discussion

Happy Hoosier

(9,465 posts)

40. Perhaps, but also....

Mon Mar 22, 2021, 02:01 PM

Mar 2021

... a simple broadening of the global community. To participate in that community, you have to be able to communicate. Of course, local languages can still be valuable. Many of them express simply concepts which are difficult to describe in English (for example). But overall, I expect there to be a steady shift towards common language.... because we are social animals and want to speak to each other.

I do think languages offer a cultural preserve that few other things can, but I suspect it will be more and more difficult to maintain them as people desire to connect with those outside their smaller language groups, and languages tend to whither if they are not used daily, and for daily activities.

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Highlight:

Four Things That Happen When a Language Dies [View all] soothsayer Mar 2021 OP

Endangered Languages List: 10 Languages Facing Extinction Klaralven Mar 2021 #1

I've been hearing the lament about dying languages for PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2021 #2

I'm with you DavidDvorkin Mar 2021 #3

Thanks for that link. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2021 #14

The very white elephant in the room is Colonialism. meadowlander Mar 2021 #5

I don't speak the language of my ancestors DavidDvorkin Mar 2021 #6

Notwithstanding your sample of one, meadowlander Mar 2021 #7

I've studied a few languages DavidDvorkin Mar 2021 #8

"Why can't everyone just speak English/Esperanto/Earth?" is advocating for cultural genocide. meadowlander Mar 2021 #9

Where did I say that everyone should speak English? DavidDvorkin Mar 2021 #10

You responded to a post saying meadowlander Mar 2021 #25

You misread me DavidDvorkin Mar 2021 #38

Hyperbole much? Goodheart Mar 2021 #16

It is not, sadly. meadowlander Mar 2021 #27

Languages evolve Kaleva Mar 2021 #29

Loss of Finnish dialects doesn't really constitute the bulk of the problem. meadowlander Mar 2021 #30

The point is that languages come and go and have been doing so since the beginning. Kaleva Mar 2021 #31

Most people die of natural causes. meadowlander Mar 2021 #39

English is a vile language. hunter Mar 2021 #34

Colonialism is a relatively new thing. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2021 #20

The Greeks had colonies in Italy and France Retrograde Mar 2021 #24

Okay, I hadn't thought back, even though I knew that. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2021 #37

Perhaps, but also.... Happy Hoosier Mar 2021 #40

I'm with you, though I usually find your positions reprehensible greenjar_01 Mar 2021 #13

i am trying to preserve old german immigrant wis things, like moo bossy, pansypoo53219 Mar 2021 #4

So, languages known only to a few, and thus a communication barrier except among themselves, Goodheart Mar 2021 #11

It's more like languages and culture reflect and shape each other soothsayer Mar 2021 #15

I don't see anybody here advocating that any language should be "wiped out" Goodheart Mar 2021 #18

Well it's a shame soothsayer Mar 2021 #19

A shame? I don't think so. Goodheart Mar 2021 #21

KNR and bookmarking. Thank you for this valuable OP. niyad Mar 2021 #12

Languages have come and gone ever since we learned to talk. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2021 #17

Yes, exactly. DavidDvorkin Mar 2021 #23

Now let's imagine that in the future, we'll all be fitted with Star-Trek-like universal translators DavidDvorkin Mar 2021 #22

Count me among the ones who think all languages should be preserved. DFW Mar 2021 #26

An advantage of English is that we borrow words freely Klaralven Mar 2021 #33

Modern day speakers of English go for convenience. DFW Mar 2021 #36

While it is sad to lose these languages (and their cultures), you can't (or shouldn't) force... Silent3 Mar 2021 #28

I hate all this fucking English in my head. hunter Mar 2021 #42

Every language's death diminishes me. Those people struggling to Hortensis Mar 2021 #32

Linguists cannot preserve languages. Only people who learn those MineralMan Mar 2021 #35

My wife absorbed many cultural aspects of her language heritage from birth... hunter Mar 2021 #41