Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Should minority languages be saved from extinction?
Yes and no. I was watching an X-Files episode where the two main characters investigate a case on a Native American reservation. The fact that one of the Native American men speaks his native tongue is helpful in the case of this show, but it sometimes makes communication difficult. There's always the problem of having a translator, and the issue that not everything can be translated literally. So I think minority languages should be saved for the sake of having cultural integrity and history, but for those purposes only. I think it tends to complicate things when there's not a simple, guided language to converse in. Latin, for example, is now a dead language, though quite preserved, but it was never a minority language. I think an important part of culture and beliefs is language, so even if people no longer speak a minority language, I think it's nice to know at one point they did, and for them to appreciate this without using it.
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I agree that minority languages should be saved from extinction, but not necessarily for spesking. Unless there is a large group of people still speaking it, then it should not be forced to use. However, it is important to remember the languages, as they are an important part of culture. We should not lose these big pieces of culture. It is important to remember these languages.
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