Language, Identity and the Survival of...
Transcript of Language, Identity and the Survival of...
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Language, Identity and the
Survival of Culture
Jennifer Cole, Ph.D.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Language reflects
culture:a timely example
In the English-speaking
community, time is a commodity.
You can…
invest time save time
lose time waste time
manage time gain time
keep time give time
make time win time…
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Language reflects culture:
a timely example
In Sindhi, time is not possessed.
Time passes, time happens, and
time can be faced…
ajju na subhaarne ‘sooner or later’
derii thii vaii ‘it got late’
lit.‘lateness happened’
vaktu guzirii vayo ‘time passed by’
What’s the
link between
language
and
culture?
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Language ~ Culture
IF…
Perception & thought are separate from language,
Language reflects culture,
Culture can be translated across languages,
THEN
� Culture is independent of language
Culture can survive language loss
Language ~ Culture
BUT, IF…
Language constrains perception & thought,
Language defines the cultural concepts,
Culture is lost in translation,
THEN
� Culture and language are intertwined
Culture may not survive language loss
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Language ~ Thought
The philosophers weigh in…
Actions are constrained by the conventions of
society, but thoughts are free.
A person may pursue any line of reasoning, belief
or understanding, limited only by time, interest
and individual mental capacity.
… or so we would like to believe
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The patterns of the language we speak largely
determine the patterns of our thoughts, and
ultimately our culture.
-- Benjamin Lee Whorf (1956)
“Linguistic Determinism”
Is it true?
• Where does this idea come from?
• Is there evidence for it or against it?
• What are the consequences?
Language determines thought & culture
<< Part I >>
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• Language shift
• Culture Loss
• Reversing the trend
<< Part II >>
What is your linguistic identity as a YSA?
What is your linguistic obligation?
What are your choices?
YSA
2003
Vancouver
<< Part III >>
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• Where does this idea come from?
• Is there evidence for it or against it?
• What are the consequences?
Language determines thought & culture
Language is the garment of thought
Spoken words are the symbols of mental
experience, which are the same for all.
-- Aristotle (384-322 bce)
Thought is primary, and independent of
language.
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Language is the instrument of thought
Are not thought and speech the same, with
this exception that what is called thought is
the unuttered conversation of the soul?
-- Plato (429-327 bce)
Language and thought are identical.
Without language, thought is a vague,
uncharted nebula. There are no pre-existing
ideas and nothing is distinct before the
appearance of language.
-- Ferdinand de Saussure (1915)
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The limits of my language mean the limits of
my world.
-- Ludwig Wittgenstein (1921)
The widespread view today:
All cognitive activity is linguistic.
Language may distort thinking
Every language expresses the character of the
people that speak it.
-- E. Bonnot de Condillac (1746)
Words are the moulds in which we see our
thoughts.
-- J. Gottfried Herder (c. 1800)
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The ‘real world’ is to a large extent
unconsciously built up on the language habits
of the group. The worlds in which different
societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the
same world with different labels attached.
-- Edward Sapir (1929)
Language may distort thinking
The differences between languages corresponds to
differences in world perspectives.
Perception and thought emerge naturally from a
language, but are ultimately constrained by the
structures of the language.
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Languages differ in the thoughts they
afford us.
Language may distort thinking
Language is the instrument of thought
From Thought to Culture
Culture is the collective, shared ‘thought’ of
the community.
--- the set of shared beliefs, traditions and
practices that provide a means for
organizing your experience of the world.
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Languages differ in the thoughts they
afford us.
Languages differ in the culture they
afford us.
What’s the hard evidence?
Modest evidence from psychology experiments:
• color names -- color recognition
• facial expression names -- recognition
• noun gender -- gender identity development
• number names – number learning
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What’s the evidence?
Modest evidence from psychology experiments:
• color names -- color recognition
• facial expression names -- recognition
• noun gender -- gender identity development
• number names – number learning
What are the consequences?
If language determines the way you
perceive the world, then the shift from use
of one language to another entails at least
the possibility of a shift in world view.
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What are the consequences?
Over an entire community, loss of
language entails the loss of that part of
culture that is verbally expressed.
• Language shift
• Culture Loss
• Reversing the trend
<< Part II >>
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Language shift
When a community shifts from using
their native language to using another
language, usually the language of a
dominant or economically powerful
community.
Urdu
Hindi
English
Sindhi
Language shift
When a community shifts from using
their native language to using another
language, usually the language of a
dominant or economically powerful
community.
Urdu
Hindi
English
SindhiUrdu
Hindi
English
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Is language shift unavoidable?
Language shift promotes economic
development.
Must economic development have
such a high price tag?
People voluntarily shift to the
dominant language.
Language shift never occurs by
choice, but by loss of choice.
Language and identity
To choose a language is an act of
identity.
Languages are the pedigrees of
nations
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Language and identity
The notion of “1 Language - 1 State”
is based on the European model,
imposed during 19th c. colonialism, and
is not a natural state for most of the
world.
“We have room for but one language.”
--President Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
Language shift, Language loss
Signs of endangerment:
Fewer speakers,
Fewer domains of language use,
Structural simplifications,
Language not learned by children as
a mother tongue.
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Endangerment check for Sindhi
� Fewer speakers,
� Fewer domains of language use,
� Structural simplifications,
� Language not learned by children
as a mother tongue.
for Sindhi in the diaspora
Language shift, Culture loss
Globalization brings about:
• the monoculture of the mind
• cultural “blind spots”
• loss of cultural knowledge that
guides traditional environmental
stewardship
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“There are 9 different words in Maya
for the color “blue”, but just 3 in the
Spanish translation, leaving 6
butterflies that can be seen only by
the Mayans, proving:
When a language dies, six butterflies
disappear from the consciousness of
the earth.”
1. Failure of older generation
2. Failure of younger generation
3. Failure of government, schools
4. Heritage language is unnecessary
5. Heritage language is overshadowed
6. Heritage language is difficult to learn
What are the root causes of
language shift?
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If the problem is the “other guys”, can
our efforts possibly make a
difference?
Language shift is the long-term,
collective consequence of
consistent patterns of individual
language choice.
What are the root causes of
language shift?
Each individual can contribute to
language maintenance.
• Proficient speakers
• Semi-speakers
• Passive bilinguals
Reversing the trend
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The social connection
Only the speakers of a language
can keep it alive.
A social function for language is
necessary for its survival.
Language revitalization: Hebrew
• resurrected from extinction
• connected to a world religion
• supported by a nationalist ideology
• supported by widespread emigration,
where newcomers had to break from
their first language.
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Language revitalization: Irish
• the number of speakers declined 60%
in 40 years; from 1.5 million in 1861 to
600,000 in 1901.
• preservation efforts supported by state
• taught in schools as a second language
• gaining no ground as a mother tongue
Language revitalization: Hawaiian
• shrunk to a few hundred speakers over
100 years
• grass-roots campaign in 1980s created
Hawaiian language immersion
programs for preschoolers and their
parents
• very successful, now have Hawaiian
K-12 education, and Hawaiian as a
foreign language at the university.
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What are the linguistic challenges
facing young Sindhis?
What are your linguistic
obligations?
Do you have choices to make?
Fact: Minority languages can find a
niche within dominant cultures.
Fact: Successful language
preservation efforts rely on the use
of the heritage language in the
home setting.
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Fact: Bilingualism is the norm for
most of the world, and a model for
language preservation efforts.
The citizen of the “global village” is
not restricted to a single language
or a single identity.
There is room for both the local
and the global language.
The choice lies with each
individual within the community.
Preserve cultural knowledge
through linguistic and other means.
Maintain access to Sindhi through
oral, written, and sung traditions.
Promote efforts to revitalize Sindhi
in your family and in the Sindhi
community.
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Share the treasure with your
non-Sindhi friends and family!
Sindhi is major language, with a
long and rich history.
Sindhi folklore and traditions are
rich and meaningful in today’s
world.
May your boats cross!
… happy landings
bberaaii paari!
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Selected ReferencesFishman, J. (1999). Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity. Oxford: Oxford
University press.
McIntosh, I.S. (2001). Plan A and plan B partnerships for cultural survival. Cultural
Survival, 25.2.
Nettle, D. & Romaine, S. (2000). Vanishing Voices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schlesinger, I.M. (1991). The wax and wane of Whorfian views. In R.L. Cooper and B.
Spolsky (eds.), The Influence of Language on Culture and Thought, pp. 7-44, Berlin:
Mouton de Gruyter.
Smith, J. (2001). For reasons out of our hands: A community identifies the causes of
language shift. Cultural Survival, 25.2.
Web ResourcesTerralingua: www.terralingua.org
Summer Institute of Lingustics: www.sil.org
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: www.unesco.org/culture
Cultural Survival: www.culturalsurvival.org/publications