I chose this article because it is really interesting to hear about languages that have gone extinct. The languages that are no longer spoken are now simply a part of our language history and we should learn about them.
What I found most interesting about this article was the mindset that It put me in. It's super interesting that there are so many languages that I was unaware of and that disappear just as unknowingly. I had no idea that there were many of these languages, especially the Martha's Vineyard Sign Language. This article makes me think even more about the fact that there was life before mine. And that there is so much history that I don't know about. And I love thinking about lives that are outside of my own.
There wasn't really an argument in this article for me to agree or disagree with, but I can agree with the idea posed through the article that any preservation of a language is something very precious. The Eastern Atakapa language had only 287 words of it written down in the 1800's. This discovery was probably very significant, and yet depressing because it is so small. And that even with the preservation of the language on paper, it can still be impossible to learn it and bring it back to life without help from someone who speaks it.
I do want to learn more about the languages that no longer exist although that would be one great feat to try and conquer. I want to continue opening my mind in this way though, so that I can try to picture the abstract idea that language is history and when it's lost it can be difficult to get back.
This topic effects the world because the entire world suffers from the loss of language. For the US specifically we can learn from this article and better understand our language history and how diverse this melting pot is, or was :( .
I've often thought that if I had to do it over again I'd become a linguistic anthropologist. Can you imagine how fascinating it would be to go to work everyday?! It would also appeal to the research/mystery-solver side of me; talk about having a job you love! I've often thought about the recordings that have been made of dying languages and the way we record and playback those recordings seems to be changing so quickly now; there is no guarantee that in 100 years someone will have the capability of playing back that recording. Another thought is language bigger than just the sounds of the words? Is there a larger conscious of those sounds and therefore of the people who used them? What happens to the energy of those words when a language dies? Does language have a soul?
ReplyDeleteThis article was awesome! I loved it and isn't it interesting that something someone uses to communicate can completely disappear due to certain conditions. It makes me wonder if the language we're speaking will be warped around so much that it almost becomes a whole new language. Another idea is that is the dying out of languages a good or bad thing for everyone. Of course that would mean that more people speak a lesser variety of languages making the language barrier smaller but the adverse effects include the dying of cultures that people will never have the joy of knowing about. Anyway, this was a great and very thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteLearning about these languages was interesting. It's sad how children won't learn the language of their parents.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. Languages should be known, including the languages we lost and preserve them. Like you said it is part of our history to our languages now, which we should know more about it. Very interesting topic you chose.
ReplyDeleteLanguages should be known, including the languages we lost and preserve them at all times. Language is what we are in a person, it tells who we are as aperson. withouth language who are we really.bVery interesting topic that you picked
ReplyDeleteI hate how languages go extinct. Isn't it fascinating. I mean take Latin for example. No one speaks it, but doctors use it in school, and it is sung quite frequently in choral music. I really think languages are alive in music. Even if they die out in the spoken and written sense. This was very interesting!
ReplyDeleteWow, really interesting. I never knew about all these extinct languages. 6. Martha's Vineyard Sign Language is particularly interesting, I think. I'm in an ASL class right now and I've previously taken sign language classes, so this is really good to be able to hear about and learn. It's sad that languages are being lost. Thanks for sharing!
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