06 November
in the train of empire
You were asked to think about these issues
... the growth of Portuguese to its present status (ranked seventh in the world) owes almost everything to the economic development, and susequent population growth, of Brazil over the past three hundred years, and very little to its spread from Portugal as a language for colonial administration ...
Had you ever thought that the colonized nation would supercede the colonial power in the world, via the "shared" language? Or has this already happened with another set of countries and a language? Is the Lusophone world as important as the Hispanophone world?
The fundamental reason for the curious absence of the Dutch language is the pragmatism of its speakers in the Indies. They were there, after all, with two motives: primarily to make money, and secondarily - a long way second - to spread Protestant Christianity ... In the event, both motives called for the use of a foreign contact language, rather than their own mother tongue.
Can you think of another place where the "foreign contact language" was more important than the "mother tongue"? Where, if anywhere, is Dutch spoken outide of the Netherlands?
The French have taken enthusiastically to the notion that their language has particular virtues, even ... that it is more rational than other languages. Perhaps more honestly than others set on global conquests, they came to assert that the were fulfilling a mission civilisatrice which went beyond the making of foreign profits for themselves, and foreign converts for their God.
What about Francophonie? How important is it?
... why, unlike all the other imperial European languages that established themselves far from Europe, (did Russian) not come to sypbolize the conquered peoples' aspirations to take part in a Westernised, globalised future(?) ... Why is Russian, alone of the current top ten languages, set to lose speakers in the twenty-first century?
Why, indeed? What is it about Russian - is it the language, is it the culture, or is it the way it spread?
Four main reasons why an imperial language lives on after the dissolution of the empire that spread it
- The creole reason - it remains the language of the people who dissolve the empire
- The nostalgia reason - the newly independent countries want to retain a link, of trade or culture, perhaps even of defense, with the metropolitan power
- The unity reason - a colonial power imposes a single language of a domain, which becomes essential for administration of a polyglot new, independent entity
- The globality reason - a country may persist with an imperial language, not because it gives a link to the old colonial power, but because it provides a means to transcend it
Can you offer examples of each reason in locations around the world today?
an idea for the day
