Saving a Language
Are languages worth saving? About 6,000 languages are spoken across the globe yet hundreds of those languages are swaying on the edge of extinction, and we may lose more than just words if we allow them to be wiped out. Language forms a pathway through human heritage and history, and a keystone of culture and self-identity. Thus, linguists are proposing that we should care about saving and preserving languages for various reasons. Both Suzanne Talhouk and John McWhorter put forward some of those reasons and they encourage the masses to save their languages and prevent them from fading away.
Suzanne Talhouk makes a heartfelt case to preserve one’s language, and to appreciate what it can convey that other languages cannot. For her, language represents distinct phases in our lives and terminology that is connected to our feelings and emotions. She is also an advocate for the Arabic language as a weapon of power and self-identity and she argues that developed …show more content…
He brings alternative reasons for saving languages in his article “Why Save a Language?” which include the fact that an integral aspect of a culture’s existence as a united entity is its language and because language is so vital to being human, having a language to use only with certain people is a strong tool for building a tight-knit community. For example, “Languages are scientifically interesting even if they don’t index cultural traits,” says McWhorter. “They offer variety equivalent to the diversity of the world’s flora and fauna.” (McWhorter) This is exemplified by the fact that there is a language in New Guinea where the same word is used for drink, eat and smoke. Furthermore, McWhorter believes that cultures represent our differences; however, languages represent multiple perceptions of life, on a worldwide and cross-cultural
Are languages worth saving? About 6,000 languages are spoken across the globe yet hundreds of those languages are swaying on the edge of extinction, and we may lose more than just words if we allow them to be wiped out. Language forms a pathway through human heritage and history, and a keystone of culture and self-identity. Thus, linguists are proposing that we should care about saving and preserving languages for various reasons. Both Suzanne Talhouk and John McWhorter put forward some of those reasons and they encourage the masses to save their languages and prevent them from fading away.
Suzanne Talhouk makes a heartfelt case to preserve one’s language, and to appreciate what it can convey that other languages cannot. For her, language represents distinct phases in our lives and terminology that is connected to our feelings and emotions. She is also an advocate for the Arabic language as a weapon of power and self-identity and she argues that developed …show more content…
He brings alternative reasons for saving languages in his article “Why Save a Language?” which include the fact that an integral aspect of a culture’s existence as a united entity is its language and because language is so vital to being human, having a language to use only with certain people is a strong tool for building a tight-knit community. For example, “Languages are scientifically interesting even if they don’t index cultural traits,” says McWhorter. “They offer variety equivalent to the diversity of the world’s flora and fauna.” (McWhorter) This is exemplified by the fact that there is a language in New Guinea where the same word is used for drink, eat and smoke. Furthermore, McWhorter believes that cultures represent our differences; however, languages represent multiple perceptions of life, on a worldwide and cross-cultural