Preserving Endangered Languages As An Art Form
The article “Why Do Language Die?” by Noah Tesch reminds me a conversation that I had with a Cherokee when I visited a Cherokee Preservation festival several years ago. When I asked if they are speaking their native languages, he told me that the government requires their younger generations to learn whatever are in their culture, including learning the Cherokee language, because their language is near extinction. Languages are not only a way to communicate, they also represent different cultural identity and the extent of human diversity. Different languages contain diverse ideas, therefore, it is an important factor in maintaining a country independent from others with producing its own ideas. …show more content…
That is true, however, English had proved that there are always people willing to learn. Betty Birner, a member of the Linguistic Society of America made a comment about famous works that are written in old English, “Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are very tough sledding, and if you went back another 500 years to try to read Beowulf, it would be like reading a different language (Birner, “Is English Changing?”).” This proves not only “2000 languages” around the world are dying, the most common language spoken today is too, is changing (Tesch, “Why Do Language Die?”). In a few decades, “the ‘th’ sound” in English “will be replaced with an ‘f’ ‘d’ or ‘v’, meaning ‘mother’ will change to ‘muvver’ and ‘thick’ will transform into ‘fick’ (Metro, "The Painfully Slow Death of the Regional Accent.").” Now in America, there would not be anyone speaking like Chaucer in their everyday life, but his works are all around us during English and Theater classes, on the television, and so on. Even if languages are preserved through technology, still, the desire among people to learn that specific language is never ending, because we perceive languages as art in our everyday life. “Writing is a relatively recent development in our history” therefore there are too few written records that can revive the language. However, if we have those languages preserved as an art form, there will always be people willing to study it or revive
The article “Why Do Language Die?” by Noah Tesch reminds me a conversation that I had with a Cherokee when I visited a Cherokee Preservation festival several years ago. When I asked if they are speaking their native languages, he told me that the government requires their younger generations to learn whatever are in their culture, including learning the Cherokee language, because their language is near extinction. Languages are not only a way to communicate, they also represent different cultural identity and the extent of human diversity. Different languages contain diverse ideas, therefore, it is an important factor in maintaining a country independent from others with producing its own ideas. …show more content…
That is true, however, English had proved that there are always people willing to learn. Betty Birner, a member of the Linguistic Society of America made a comment about famous works that are written in old English, “Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are very tough sledding, and if you went back another 500 years to try to read Beowulf, it would be like reading a different language (Birner, “Is English Changing?”).” This proves not only “2000 languages” around the world are dying, the most common language spoken today is too, is changing (Tesch, “Why Do Language Die?”). In a few decades, “the ‘th’ sound” in English “will be replaced with an ‘f’ ‘d’ or ‘v’, meaning ‘mother’ will change to ‘muvver’ and ‘thick’ will transform into ‘fick’ (Metro, "The Painfully Slow Death of the Regional Accent.").” Now in America, there would not be anyone speaking like Chaucer in their everyday life, but his works are all around us during English and Theater classes, on the television, and so on. Even if languages are preserved through technology, still, the desire among people to learn that specific language is never ending, because we perceive languages as art in our everyday life. “Writing is a relatively recent development in our history” therefore there are too few written records that can revive the language. However, if we have those languages preserved as an art form, there will always be people willing to study it or revive