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本帖最后由 zhengchangdian 于 2009-12-12 17:55 编辑
Issue 13
Many of the world’s lesser-known languages are being lost as fewer and fewer people speak them. The governments of countries in which these languages are spoken should act to prevent such languages from becoming extinct.
Would one remains unmoved at the sight of a Jewry mother singing her baby to sleep in Russian and dissolving into tears? There’s always a contradiction between the desire to preserve and the determination to let things drift when it comes to the disappearing languages. I cannot quiet agree with the speaker concerning the issue of requiring the governments to check the lesser-known languages from dying out.
Most social scientists stand on the point that it is an inescapable responsibility to protect the lesser-known languages from endangered situation. Undoubtedly, language is one of the most convincing records of the way a culture comes into being. As a method to communicate with others, it provides the people with the opportunity to convey their emotions and identify their cultural group. In other words, if a language really dies out, the inevitable misunderstanding and the absolute ignorance of history is around the corner. Not only entangles the group in a dilemma of racial identification, the linguistic disappearance also serves as a prelude of cultural invasion. To illustrate this point clearly, it is necessary to trace back to the history. When Japan occupied China during World War II, they compelled native speakers to learn Japanese and set it as the only official language. If only the native speakers had abandoned their mother tongue, the influence of Japanese colonialism would destroy the nation gradually. What’s more, to protect the diversity of languages shares much in common with to preserve the diversity of endangered species. As the rapid technology development changes the world, both the original species and the ancient culture are facing an unprecedented plight of extinction. Given the aim of preserve the most possibilities for unknown future, it is considered that to sustain the variety is much wiser than to eliminate.
However, it is the course of the nature that determines the inevitable extermination of some languages. To begin with, the reasons why these languages are abandoned are various. On the surface, most of the deserted languages are not practical, especially for their pronunciations are too difficult and the words have to be combined within numerous restrictions. No one would like to pay more attention to these trivial limits in communication. But the language relinquishment should attribute to the globalization essentially. The free trade, free flow of capital and cheaper foreign labor markets are the symbols of increasingly integrated global economy, which requires no boundary between nations in some degree. In this circumstance, the ability to communicate without misunderstanding plays such an important role that some lesser known or spoken languages are obliterated from sight gradually. Of course, the desire to follow the popular trend paves the way for the extinction as well. In the process of pursuing the fashion, the younger generation always abandons the banal language without hesitation and applies the popular one to their daily life. Thus, no one is capable of stemming back the pace of linguistic dissolution under the universal law.
In fact, the language extinction is the healthy consequence of maintaining the linguistic diversity. To illustrate this point of view clearly, here’s a convincing example. In consideration of the salad bowl pattern, mankind speaks the unified language when getting together, while speaking their favorite languages when they are at home. For instance, the Jewry living in Shtetls speak Yiddish at home, while they speak Russian outside their country. The reason why they become bilingual speakers is not their fondness, but rather the racial segregation they are suffering from. Factually, the existence of various languages means the segregation of mankind in some degree, which originates from the inequality in society. Ironically, this circumstance betrays the original intention of linguistic diversity renaissance supporters. Or put it another way, the positive outcome of language variety is disappearance of some lesser known languages.
In conclusion, there is no necessity to demand the government or any other organizations to protect the endangered languages from the edge of disappearance. After all, no one would like to live in a “salad bowl” society based on the inequality.
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