14 October
the nature of language history
You were asked to think about these issues
(The text) concentrates on languages that, for one reason or another, grew out from their homes, and spread across the world ...
but
... language failures are no less interesting ...
We can think easily of successful languages, but can we think of ones that looked like they would succeed, but didn't.
Somehow, and for a variety of reasons, the communities that spoke them where able to persuade others to join them, and so they expanded ... at root this persuasion is the only way that a language can spread, and it is no small thing ...
Is it always persuasion, or is "persuasion" accompanied by something else?
A feature of this transition is the decline of many of the indigenous languages and their replacement through the expansion of neighbouring tongues, or more globally by languages associated with trade at the national level, or government ...
Which leads us to consider the life of the languages of imperial states - Portugal, Spain, France, England - and how they evolved in areas far removed from their homes.
A language acts not just as a means of communication among them but a banner of their distinct identity ... living in a particular language does not define a total philosophy of life; but some metaphors will come to mind more readily than others; and some states of mine, or attitudes to others, are easier to assume in one language than another.
Can you think of some metaphors that come more readily to mind in a language other than English? Do you sometimes think of something in English, only to realize later that you are actually using a different language?
an idea for the day
