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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Spoken Here
I thought I would draw the groups' attention to a new book, "Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages" by Mark Abley.
"Modern English is the Wal-Mart of languages: convenient, huge, hard to avoid, superficially friendly, and devouring all rivals in its eagerness to expand."
?Mark Abley
The book is available at Amazon, whwre you will find some reviews and this description:In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking out languages in peril Manx, Mohawk, Boro, Yiddish, and many more. Along the way he reveals delicious linguistic oddities and shows us what is lost when one of the world's six thousand tongues dies an irreplaceable worldview and a wealth of practical knowledge. He also examines the forces, from pop culture to creoles to global politics, that threaten to wipe out 90 percent of languages by this century's end.
Abley encounters one of the last two speakers of an Australian language, whose tribal taboos forbid them to talk to each other. He spotlights those who believe that violence is the only way to save their tongue. He meets a Yiddish novelist who writes for an audience she knows doesn't exist. He pays tribute to such strange tongues as the Amazonian language last spoken by a parrot, the Caucasian language with no vowels, and the South Asian language whose innumerable verbs include gobray (to fall in a well unknowingly) and onsra (to love for the last time).
Each of the languages Abley spotlights, from the familiar to the foreign, exemplifies the various threats that endanger languages worldwide. But many also prove their resilience, thanks to the efforts of their determined speakers and such unlikely tools as soap operas and pop music. Abley meets the crusaders as well as the uncaring, all of whom offer surprising insight into this centuries-old debate.
Spoken Here is a singular travelogue, a compelling case for linguistic diversity, and a treasure
"Modern English is the Wal-Mart of languages: convenient, huge, hard to avoid, superficially friendly, and devouring all rivals in its eagerness to expand."
?Mark Abley
The book is available at Amazon, whwre you will find some reviews and this description:In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking out languages in peril Manx, Mohawk, Boro, Yiddish, and many more. Along the way he reveals delicious linguistic oddities and shows us what is lost when one of the world's six thousand tongues dies an irreplaceable worldview and a wealth of practical knowledge. He also examines the forces, from pop culture to creoles to global politics, that threaten to wipe out 90 percent of languages by this century's end.
Abley encounters one of the last two speakers of an Australian language, whose tribal taboos forbid them to talk to each other. He spotlights those who believe that violence is the only way to save their tongue. He meets a Yiddish novelist who writes for an audience she knows doesn't exist. He pays tribute to such strange tongues as the Amazonian language last spoken by a parrot, the Caucasian language with no vowels, and the South Asian language whose innumerable verbs include gobray (to fall in a well unknowingly) and onsra (to love for the last time).
Each of the languages Abley spotlights, from the familiar to the foreign, exemplifies the various threats that endanger languages worldwide. But many also prove their resilience, thanks to the efforts of their determined speakers and such unlikely tools as soap operas and pop music. Abley meets the crusaders as well as the uncaring, all of whom offer surprising insight into this centuries-old debate.
Spoken Here is a singular travelogue, a compelling case for linguistic diversity, and a treasure
Top answer
com review) [nq:1]In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking out languages in peril Manx, Mohawk, Boro, Yiddish, and ... [/nq] Two issues glossed over rather quickly: Is a language per se a world view (or does a language per se contain a world view)? No doubt there is much lore that is expressed in the language, but that is not the same thing.
- com review) [nq:1]In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking out languages in peril Manx, Mohawk, Boro, Yiddish, and ...
- [/nq] Two issues glossed over rather quickly: Is a language per se a world view (or does a language per se contain a world view)?
- No doubt there is much lore that is expressed in the language, but that is not the same thing.
- Is knowledge of a language knowledge of anything except the language?
- Again, there may be some facts expressed in a language, but would they not be the same facts if their expression was translated to another language?
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75 Answers
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In our last episode,
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented MC
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
(Evidently quoting an Amazon.com review)
[nq:1]In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking out languages in peril Manx, Mohawk, Boro, Yiddish, and ... lost when one of the world's six thousand tongues dies an irreplaceable worldview and a wealth of practical knowled
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented MC
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
(Evidently quoting an Amazon.com review)
[nq:1]In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking out languages in peril Manx, Mohawk, Boro, Yiddish, and ... lost when one of the world's six thousand tongues dies an irreplaceable worldview and a wealth of practical knowled
00
[nq:1]I thought I would draw the groups' attention to a new book, "Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages" by Mark ... language whose innumerable verbs include gobray (to fall in a well unknowingly) and onsra (to love for the last time).[/nq]
Someone who has onsrad may gobray while worrying about it.
wrmst rgrds
Robin Bignall
Quiet part of Hertfordshire
England
Someone who has onsrad may gobray while worrying about it.
wrmst rgrds
Robin Bignall
Quiet part of Hertfordshire
England
00
[nq:2]In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking ... an irreplaceable worldview and a wealth of practical knowledge.[/nq]
[nq:1]Two issues glossed over rather quickly: Is a language per se a world view (or does a language per se ... expressed in a language, but would they not be the same facts if their expression was translated to another language?[/nq]
The language encap
[nq:1]Two issues glossed over rather quickly: Is a language per se a world view (or does a language per se ... expressed in a language, but would they not be the same facts if their expression was translated to another language?[/nq]
The language encap
00
In our last episode,
,
the lovely and talented Dave Swindell
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]The language encapsulates the way in which the speakers understand the world.[/nq]
Yes. I understand this is the assertion. What is the evidence?
[nq:1]So the Inuit have a conceptual framework, encapsulated in their language, which enables them to survive in their extreme envi
,
the lovely and talented Dave Swindell
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]The language encapsulates the way in which the speakers understand the world.[/nq]
Yes. I understand this is the assertion. What is the evidence?
[nq:1]So the Inuit have a conceptual framework, encapsulated in their language, which enables them to survive in their extreme envi
00
[nq:1]Taken to the extreme, if English (or Spanish, or Mandarin, or ... ) were to become the first language of ... such as food, medicines, knowledge of the environment, etc etc are lost, and the survival of the population is threatened.[/nq]
***. There are plenty of books about food, medicine, and survival in English. Do you think they are all worthless?
[nq:1]This isn't to say that the p
***. There are plenty of books about food, medicine, and survival in English. Do you think they are all worthless?
[nq:1]This isn't to say that the p
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[nq:2]Taken to the extreme, if English (or Spanish, or Mandarin, ... are lost, and the survival of the population is threatened.[/nq]
[nq:1]***. There are plenty of books about food, medicine, and survival in English. Do you think they are all worthless?[/nq]
Specialized vocabularies would have to be either recreated or carried over. But I agree with you: so what? English readily accepts w
[nq:1]***. There are plenty of books about food, medicine, and survival in English. Do you think they are all worthless?[/nq]
Specialized vocabularies would have to be either recreated or carried over. But I agree with you: so what? English readily accepts w
00
[nq:1] Specialized vocabularies would have to be either recreated or carried over. But I agree with you: so what? English readily accepts words from other languages, as do most other languages, French being the exception.[/nq]
Yup, and it would happen real fast. No problemo.
Chinese has special loanword problems because of its eccentric phonology and it's bizarre orthography; nevertheless,
Yup, and it would happen real fast. No problemo.
Chinese has special loanword problems because of its eccentric phonology and it's bizarre orthography; nevertheless,
00
[nq:1]I thought I would draw the groups' attention to a new book, "Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages" by Mark ... pop culture to creoles to global politics, that threaten to wipe out 90 percent of languages by this century's end.[/nq]
I don't see how creoles can be considered among the forces which might lead to languages dying out. Creoles arise out of pidgins, and pidgins arise
I don't see how creoles can be considered among the forces which might lead to languages dying out. Creoles arise out of pidgins, and pidgins arise
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[nq:1]The language encapsulates the way in which the speakers understand the world. So the Inuit have a conceptual framework, encapsulated ... or the rain forests, or ... Lets hope we survive long enough for this to happen, and Babel to return.[/nq]
Let's go with the hypothetical situation you propose, as absurd as it may be. (I would change the "first language" used above to "only language,"
Let's go with the hypothetical situation you propose, as absurd as it may be. (I would change the "first language" used above to "only language,"
00
In our last episode,
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented Raymond S. Wise
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]Much of what distinguishes one language from another is basically baroque junk, as John Baugh points out in his book ... their own language, I would expect them to tend to use blasphemy in their swear words in their new language.[/nq]
I think this is something lik
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented Raymond S. Wise
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]Much of what distinguishes one language from another is basically baroque junk, as John Baugh points out in his book ... their own language, I would expect them to tend to use blasphemy in their swear words in their new language.[/nq]
I think this is something lik
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