Languages
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Languages die faster than flora and fauna PERSPECTIVES November 19, 2009 ● Mount Holyoke News 11 My grandfather learned to recognize the English let- ter “m” thanks to our frequent visits to the local McDon- ald’s in my hometown Shenzhen, China. Though I never managed to convince him to try the food, he knew what this huge red letter stood for. It is thus that the English language slowly makes its way into the lives of the Chinese. In China, English is a mandatory subject at school, and those who speak it fluently are respected intellectuals and professionals. The language is also popularly used and sometimes cleverly paired up with Chinese characters to form newly molded words with brand new meanings that only Chinese young generations understand. The boundaries are blurring between Chinese becoming more anglicized, and English increasingly in- fused in the Chinese culture. Do we need English to express new ideas, or do we simply find it cool to use? Concerns arise in non-English speaking countries as the influence of the English lan- guage extends to daily conversations and local pop culture. These are undestandable re- actions, since language is intimately connected to personal and cultural identities, which people are afraid of losing. The transformation of language itself also proves worrisome as more and more people realize that their native language changes in syntax and many other linguistic aspects under English influences. “During the British colonization period, some cities in Yemen were renamed because English people couldn’t pronounce the original cities’ names,” said Lubna Saqran ’13 from Yemen. For instance, a city previously named Dawhi is now known as Tawahi. “Now everyone calls cities by their English names,” she added. In Yemen, many young people adopt the English language and prefer to use it in their everyday talk. “I feel worried that they may become less capable of expressing themselves in Arabic, their native lan- guage,” Saqran said. Not all English influences, however, are negative. In Japan, for instance, English helped shape Japanese pop (J-pop), a mainstream musical genre that now extends its influence to East and Southeast Asia. English in J-pop, James Stanlaw suggested in his book Japanese English, creates vivid images and allusions that are otherwise hard to ex- press using only Japanese expressions. For example, “anata,” a Japanese pronoun that means “you” in English, is an intimate word commonly used between lovers. When the songwriter wants to describe a break-up, she will adopt the English word “you.” Thus, the artist can better express heartbreaking feelings. Aside from music, English is creatively adopted in gendered situations. English loan- words, as Stanlaw noted, empower Japanese women to “circumvent certain linguistic and social constraints in Japanese language.” Thanks to this new communication tool, women are able to dip their feet into the water of taboos. Thus, English acts as a facili- tator in a social and cultural environment demanding revolutionary expressions. So where do we draw the line between the restrictive and liberating powers of the English language? BY XINYUN ZHU ’13 CONTRIBUTING WRITER Laura Turyatemba ‘11 and Emily Chow ‘12 demonstrate the hand gesture accompany- ing the Arabic greeting As- Salamu `Alaykum in the Arabian Peninsula. Partici- pants perform a two-hand shake and draw their hands toward their hearts. The spoken greeting means “Peace be upon you” in Ara- bic. The response to the greet- ing is Wa- 'alaykum as-salam, meaning “And upon you be peace.” It is widespread in Middle Eastern, South Asian, African and Balkan countries. H AND AND GESTURE GESTURE ACCOMPANYING ACCOMPANYING THE THE A RABIC RABIC GREETING GREETING A A S S -S -S ALĀMU ALĀMU `A `A LAYKUM LAYKUM There are enough reasons to lament the “villagizing” of our globe, but one that few have latched onto is the loss of cultures through the extinction of languages. There are about 6,912 living languages known but research has shown that every fortnight, a language dies. “The pace of language extinction we are seeing, it is really unprecedented in human history,” said Dr. David Harrison for The Independent in 2007. Author of When Languages Die, Harrison reported that the extinction of languages oc- curs faster than that of the flora and fauna. “More than 40 percent of the world’s lan- guages could be considered endangered compared to 8 percent of plants and 18 percent of mammals,” he told The Independent. Linguists believe that half the languages in the world will be extinct by the end of the century. A language becomes extinct when it no longer has any living speakers, or when it evolves into a new language or a family of languages. It is also considered extinct when evidence shows that it was spoken in the past but modern scholarship cannot reconstruct it for writing and translating purposes. Some extinct languages are Coptic, which was replaced by Arabic, as well as several Native American languages under- mined by the more domi- nant Spanish, English and French. Extinct languages, however, are not quite the same as dead languages. Though scholarship and records provide evidence for dead lan- guages, no active groups of people can speak it. Latin, Old Church Slavonic and Old Ti- betan fall in this category. An interesting group of languages is emerging too. In this group are languages that were extinct but have been actively revived for use in liturgical literature (Hebrew), or for pre-school instruction (Sanskrit). It is difficult to project if they will ever become the native language of the communities in which they are being revived, but as far as noble efforts go, their resuscitation has been critical for the preservation of history and culture. So how does a language die? The main culprits are globalization and migration. The lingua franca in cities replaces local languages and dialects, widely used in villages. As more children are born in the city, they take on this lingua franca as their first language and their mother tongue takes a back seat, if at all. As most research and scholarship is conducted in the world’s dominant languages, people feel pressured to perform all their intellectual work in say, English, rather than their native languages. Harrison reported that about 80 percent of the global population today speaks 80 of the world’s dominant languages, among which are English and Russian. Only 0.2 percent of the international community uses the other 3,500 less popular languages. As ancient languages die out, succumbing to the spread of these bully linguistic structures, they don’t leave behind a vacuum of voiceless people, but create more speak- ers of the dominant world languages. Suffice it to say, then, that all languages are equal, but some are more equal than others. BY LAURA TURYATEMBA ’11 CONTRIBUTING WRITER Adopting English abroad: restrictive or liberating? UNESCO reports that 538 of the world’s 2,279 endan- gered languages are on the verge of extinction. Out of 86 endangered indigenous languages in Canada only three—Cree, Inuktitut and Anish- naabe—are expected to remain in Aboriginal communities. In Alaska, the Eyak language lost its last speaker, Papua New Guinea is the world’s most linguistically diverse nation, with 823 living languages. Mexico and Venezuela have 144 and 34 endangered in- digenous languages accordingly. Since the 1950s, almost half of California’s native In- dian languages have disappeared. 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Languages die faster than flora and faunaPERSPECTIVESNovember 19, 2009 � Mount Holyoke News 11
My grandfather learned to recognize the English let-ter “m” thanks to our frequent visits to the local McDon-ald’s in my hometown Shenzhen, China. Though I never
managed to convince him to try the food, he knew what this huge red letter stood for. Itis thus that the English language slowly makes its way into the lives of the Chinese.
In China, English is a mandatory subject at school, and those who speak it fluentlyare respected intellectuals and professionals. The language is also popularly used andsometimes cleverly paired upwith Chinese characters to form newlymolded words withbrand newmeanings that only Chinese young generations understand. The boundariesare blurring between Chinese becoming more anglicized, and English increasingly in-fused in the Chinese culture. Do we need English to express new ideas, or do we simplyfind it cool to use?
Concerns arise in non-English speaking countries as the influence of the English lan-guage extends to daily conversations and local pop culture. These are undestandable re-actions, since language is intimately connected to personal and cultural identities, whichpeople are afraid of losing. The transformation of language itself also proves worrisomeasmore andmore people realize that their native language changes in syntax andmanyother linguistic aspects under English influences.
“During the British colonization period, some cities in Yemenwere renamed becauseEnglish people couldn’t pronounce the original cities’ names,” said Lubna Saqran ’13
fromYemen. For instance, a city previously named Dawhi is now known as Tawahi. “Noweveryone calls cities by their English names,” she added. In Yemen, many young peopleadopt the English language and prefer to use it in their everyday talk. “I feel worriedthat they may become less capable of expressing themselves in Arabic, their native lan-guage,” Saqran said.
Not all English influences, however, are negative. In Japan, for instance, Englishhelped shape Japanese pop (J-pop), a mainstream musical genre that now extends itsinfluence to East and Southeast Asia. English in J-pop, James Stanlaw suggested in hisbook Japanese English, creates vivid images and allusions that are otherwise hard to ex-press using only Japanese expressions. For example, “anata,” a Japanese pronoun thatmeans “you” in English, is an intimate word commonly used between lovers. When thesongwriter wants to describe a break-up, she will adopt the English word “you.” Thus,the artist can better express heartbreaking feelings.
Aside frommusic, English is creatively adopted in gendered situations. English loan-words, as Stanlaw noted, empower Japanese women to “circumvent certain linguisticand social constraints in Japanese language.” Thanks to this new communication tool,women are able to dip their feet into the water of taboos. Thus, English acts as a facili-tator in a social and cultural environment demanding revolutionary expressions.
So where do we draw the line between the restrictive and liberating powers of theEnglish language?
BY XINYUN ZHU ’13CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Laura Turyatemba ‘11 andEmily Chow ‘12 demonstratethe hand gesture accompany-ing the Arabic greeting As-Salamu `Alaykum in theArabian Peninsula. Partici-pants perform a two-handshake and draw their handstoward their hearts.
The spoken greeting means“Peace be upon you” in Ara-bic. The response to the greet-ing isWa- 'alaykum as-salam,meaning “And upon you bepeace.” It is widespread inMiddle Eastern, South Asian,African and Balkan countries.
HHANDAND GESTUREGESTURE ACCOMPANYINGACCOMPANYING THETHE AARABICRABIC GREETINGGREETING AASS-S-SALĀMUALĀMU `A`ALAYKUMLAYKUM
There are enough reasons to lament the “villagizing” ofour globe, but one that few have latched onto is the loss ofcultures through the extinction of languages.
There are about 6,912 living languages known but research has shown that everyfortnight, a language dies. “The pace of language extinction we are seeing, it is reallyunprecedented in human history,” said Dr. David Harrison for The Independent in 2007.Author ofWhen Languages Die, Harrison reported that the extinction of languages oc-curs faster than that of the flora and fauna. “More than 40 percent of the world’s lan-guages could be considered endangered compared to 8 percent of plants and 18 percentof mammals,” he told The Independent. Linguists believe that half the languages in theworld will be extinct by the end of the century.
A language becomes extinct when it no longer has any living speakers, or when itevolves into a new language or a family of languages. It is also considered extinct whenevidence shows that it was spoken in the past butmodern scholarship cannot reconstruct
it for writing and translating purposes. Some extinct languages are Coptic, whichwas replaced by Arabic, as well as several Native American languages under-
mined by the more domi-nant Spanish, English
and French.
Extinct languages, however, are not quite the sameas dead languages. Though scholarship and records provide evidence for dead lan-guages, no active groups of people can speak it. Latin, Old Church Slavonic and Old Ti-betan fall in this category.
An interesting group of languages is emerging too. In this group are languages thatwere extinct but have been actively revived for use in liturgical literature (Hebrew), orfor pre-school instruction (Sanskrit). It is difficult to project if they will ever become thenative language of the communities in which they are being revived, but as far as nobleefforts go, their resuscitation has been critical for the preservation of history and culture.
So how does a language die? Themain culprits are globalization andmigration. Thelingua franca in cities replaces local languages and dialects, widely used in villages. Asmore children are born in the city, they take on this lingua franca as their first languageand their mother tongue takes a back seat, if at all. As most research and scholarship isconducted in the world’s dominant languages, people feel pressured to perform all theirintellectual work in say, English, rather than their native languages. Harrison reportedthat about 80 percent of the global population today speaks 80 of the world’s dominantlanguages, among which are English and Russian. Only 0.2 percent of the internationalcommunity uses the other 3,500 less popular languages.
As ancient languages die out, succumbing to the spread of these bully linguisticstructures, they don’t leave behind a vacuum of voiceless people, but create more speak-
ers of the dominant world languages.Suffice it to say, then, that all languages are equal, but some are
more equal than others.
BY LAURA TURYATEMBA ’11CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Adopting English abroad: restrictive or liberating?
UNESCO reports that 538 of the world’s 2,279 endan-gered languages are on the verge of extinction.
Out of 86 endangered indigenous languages inCanada only three—Cree, Inuktitut and Anish-naabe—areexpected to remain in Aboriginal communities.
In Alaska, the Eyak language lost its last speaker,
Papua New Guinea is the world’s most linguisticallydiverse nation, with 823 living languages.
Mexico and Venezuela have 144 and 34 endangered in-digenous languages accordingly.
Since the 1950s, almost half of California’s native In-dian languages have disappeared.
Perspectives 11.19.09:Layout 1 2/7/10 10:57 PM Page 1
PERSPECTIVES November 19, 2009 � Mount Holyoke News12
The first time I encountered a foreign language was inthird grade, whenmy academic curriculum started to includethe subject English. The Vietnamese school curriculum, par-
ticularly for urban schools, requires students to learn a foreign language, and English,no doubt, has been the number one choice for most schools.
Yet many of myMount Holyoke friends askme if in Vietnamwe speak French as thesecond official language. Obviously, they have a reason. Vietnam was once a Frenchcolony and is still a member country of the OIF (International Organization of La Fran-cophonie). However, as someone who had spent roughly nine years studying English be-fore starting French onmy own, I have experienced as much trouble with conjugation ofFrench verbs as anybody else. But even though, like most of my Vietnamese friends, Ihadn’t spoken any French for the first 17 years of my life, this language and culture havesomehow always been part of my life.
In fact, reading L’amant (The Lover) by Marguerite Duras in my French 215 classbrought me back to Vietnam. I loved trailing the roads of Hanoi, my hometown and alsoVietnam’s capital, to delve into the mix of a new, bustling city life and ancient history.French colonial architecture, an indispensable part of my city’s scenery, has always beenmy favorite. I would spend hours enjoying the romantic view of the Big Theater, or imag-ining myself sipping coffee in the Paris-style coffee shop of L’hôtel Métropole.
The French language claims a unique place in the Vietnamese culture. In the 20thcentury, a generation of talented French-educated writers brought a revolution to theVietnamese language literature, once dominated by Confucian beliefs.We have adopted
words such as cyclo (“xich lo” in Vietnamese), gout (gu) and poupée (bup be).The language-culture dynamics, however, can take different forms in other contexts.
In the former French colony Senegal, for instance, French remained the official language.Next to the usage of French as the nation’s official language, Senegal has a beautiful mo-saic of regional languages like Wolof, Soninke and Fula. These local cultures seem tooffer the perfect ingredients for literary works in French. Now the country boasts someof themost successful French-language African writers such as Léopold Sédar Senghor.
Sometimes, I love to think of Mount Holyoke as a miniature country where Englishis used as the official language in classrooms and offices. And yet, alongside the usageof English, we hear hundreds of other languages like Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese,French and Hindi in the dining halls and at various campus events. Even when we allspeak English, our native cultures subtly add colorful nuances to our speech. At theMount Holyoke’s Alumnae and Students of Color Conference this year, one of thekeynote speakers, Jacqueline Elena Featherston, said she was “tri-lingual” in Englishwhen addressing different listeners in her work.
Given the most dynamic and exciting link between language and culture that I haverealized and started to grasp here, I would like to respond to her thoughts—it’s ideal ifyou can be 2200-lingual in English while at Mount Holyoke. After all, part of being hereis about learning a new language, knowing a new culture and discovering the endlesslinks between them, no matter whether you officially register for a language course ornot.
Why former French colony Vietnam doesn’t speak French
←←←←Shuyao Wang ‘11 shows the eye-rub lying gesture. It is a sign ofavoiding eye contact ormetaphorically blocking the liewelling up in the eye of thespeaker. “Like the child, thespeaker is subconsciously tryingto avoid looking someone in theeye whilst deceiving them,” wroteGeoffrey Broughton in his foreignlanguage study Expressions.
→→→→Laura Turyatemba ‘11 andShuyao Wang ‘11 demonstratethe nose-rubbing kiss. It is a tra-ditional greeting gesture amongthe Inuit people of the Arctic.Also known as kunik, the Eskimokissing is an intimate sign of af-fection. The rubbing of noses isalso commonly used among theMaori, the indigenous Polynesianpeople of New Zealand, where itis called hongi.
EEYEYE--RUBRUB LYINGLYING GESTUREGESTURE NNOSEOSE--RUBBINGRUBBING KISSESKISSES
The TGV train pulled awayfrom Gare Saint Roch, the main
station in Montpellier on a warm autumn morning whilethe stream of announcements rolled out on the intercom,“Mesdames, messieurs votre attention s’il vous plait…”(Attention please, ladies and gentlemen…). A female voiceannounced basic train safety tips and the stops along theway, the final destination being Marseille. As I listened tothe announcements, I realized that I did not completelyunderstand everything. However, I put two and two to-gether and concluded that in about half an hour, I wouldget off at the station in a city called Nimes. With head-phones in my ears and my iPod music on, I entered mycomfort zone listening to Alicia Keys’ album As I Amthroughout the entire ride.
Prior to studying in France last year, I had never livedin a country where the language spoken was not my firstlanguage. Though I had been studying French for severalyears before visiting the country, I had a difficult time im-
mersing myself into the language during the first couple ofmonths in Montpellier. I realized there was quite a differ-ence between the French I had learned in the classroomand the one spoken by natives on the street. I found myselflost in translation on countless occasions as people struckconversations with me on simple topics like where I wasfrom and why I was in France. My habit of translatingevery sentence into English (in my mind) seemed effectivein almost all my classes but was no longer helpful inFrance. Yet the more I traveled and interacted withFrench people, the more progress I started to notice.
Adventurous travelers would agree that it is exhila-rating to visit places where foreign languages are spoken.Yet, doesn’t one miss the opportunity for an authentic ex-perience by not speaking the native language? As I im-proved in conversational French, I observed thedifferences in my interactions and appreciations of thevarious cities I visited. Whether it was walking into a café,ordering a steaming cup of chocolat chaud, chatting with
the person at the table next tome about interesting sightsee-
ings or asking for directions tothe famous city cathedral, I didso with ease and comfort. I haveto credit my great travel experi-ences to the fact that I was ableto converse and read in French.
On one of my last trips fromFrance to the Netherlands, Iwas stranded at a train station
in a city I was unfamiliar with. As I tried to figure outwhere to board the airport shuttle, I overheard anotherlady who was also headed to the airport and we ended upsharing a taxi. Not once did I feel lost in translation duringour conversation. I found out that she also lived in Mont-pellier and was traveling to the same city in the Nether-lands where I was heading. We kept in touch until the timecame for me to return to the U.S.
BY CRYSTAL BOATENG ’10STAFF WRITER
ASAP — As Soon as PossibleBCNU — Be Seeing YouCUL8R — See You LaterG2G — Gotta goBTW— By The wayDL – DownloadF2F — Face To FaceFYI — For Your InformationIDK — I Don’t KnowIOW — In Other WordsIMAO — In My Arrogant OpinionJK — Just Kidding
JIC — Just In CaseLOL — Laughing Out LoudL8R — LaterMTF — More to FollowNO1 — No OneOTW -— On The WayPPL — PeopleTBC — To Be ContinuedROTF — Rolling On The Floor (laughing is implied)SY — Sincerely YoursZZZ — Sleepy, bored or tired4RL? — For Real?
@home@work@school@prospect
BY THU NGUYEN ’12 STAFF WRITER
WWWWeeee bbbb llll iiii nnnn gggg oooo
Learning French through traveling
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