Reversing Babel
I think few would argue the importance of the linguistic unity that the romans brought to Europe by spreading the latin language. Today the main part of all European languages has its origin in latin, something that's easy for us to take for granted but also appreciates as we try to learn new languages through the similarities in both words and grammar.
Most people also appreciates our ancient, pre-latin languages, but rarely see them as much more than cultural artifacts (perhaps with a few exceptions like Celtic languages and Basque).
Why then, are we so afraid of how the english language is taking over more and more? Why is it so hard to see the unifying aspects in sharing one language?
The obvious answer is the fear of loosing our culture, which in a way is a fair response. However, by using that argument one also claims that culture is something static and unchangeable. Of course we must guard our own culture to some extent, but preservation shouldn't be a goal in itself. And what is "our culture" anyway?
I argue that reversing the heritage God supposedly gave us through the Tower of Babel (when God divided the people into different languages) would be of benefit for everybody, at least done with the proper measures taken to ensure cultural diversity.
3 comments:
Jag läste det här blogginlägget för några dagar sedan, och tyckte att det låg en poäng i det du skrev...
Till min förtvivlan kom jag idag försent och oföberedd till ett engelska seminarium. Ämnet var, lustigt nog, huru vida vi ska låta det engelska språket integrera i vår svenska. Det var många som tyckte att vi höll på att förlora vår kultur osv. Jag höll väl inte riktigt med, så jag använde mig av dina åsikter och det du skrivit i den här texten. Heh. Ursäkta, jag skulle aldrig ha gjort det om jag inte varit oförberedd! Men min lärare uppskattade det. Hoppas du blir glad av att höra det i alla fall.
Jag håller mig anonym det blir lite för pinsamt annars.
I will hunt you down and... Nää, kul att det jag skriver faktiskt kommer till användning :)
Was the tower of Babel a blessing or a curse? What is the significance of a language? What is the value of protecting a rare language, or of a diversity of languages? Can a language survive even though all, or most of its users, also use other, larger languages? The questions are important since a very large number of tongues are rapidly disappearing. And many have already done so during the last century. At the same time there are movements for and a growing awareness of the role of small languages in the culture of mankind. I would argue that there is an intrinsic value in the diversity of languages. So much of culture is tied up with language. This does not mean freezing the development of a language, because that is a certain way to kill it. For some more thoughts, check in on my blog http://blogbeaver.blogspot.com.
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