On the Learning of Languages
December 2022
Every year nine languages cease to be spoken. By the middle of the next century, experts predict 26 languages each year, reducing our linguistic heritage even further. Arguments can be made wether this phenomenon is inevitable or preventable. On a moral stance, wether it is desirable or not.
One cannot separate the language from the culture it derived from. Every translation of literature is its reinterpretation constricted by the words at hand and the translators ability to write between the lines. Without the parallelisms of hebrew poetry and the change of the word trust (Hebrew: emunah) into faith, the english bible has a vastly different meaning.
The spoken word is also affected by the changes of a culture. In an attempt to find common ground, local dialects make place for an official language taught in school and through the unrestrained spread of media, from Radio to Twitter. To communicate with different parts of the world, English has established itself as the most useful language. Helped by the simplicity of its structure and the dominion of two empires.
Attempts to create languages from scratch, like Esperanto in the 19th century have never received official approval. Although a language might seem mechanical when looking at its grammatical laws like a clockwork, these rules formed naturally over the centuries. Without the underlying culture and the darwinian evolution, a constructed language appears more dead than Ancient Greek.
Instead of the Tabula Rasa which, in language terms, would bring us back to the animalistic hunting screams, parameters for a selection process of already established languages might be of better use. But how do we evaluate the quality of a language and the place it should have in our life? Should we teach Hindi and Chinese in European schools because over two billion people speak it or should we learn Latin to connect us to our roots? Maybe the selection becomes redundant once a world language is established. But how would this affect the cohesion of the people when we become Nationalists Without Borders?
Join the discussion!
