so i'm a linguistics major, right?
so assuming we cracked the code of languages or invented a device that would make it possible for anyone to speak to another person as if they were a fluent speaker of their native language, what would we say to one another?
the thrill of attempting to communicate despite language deficiencies is no longer present. would we pursue relationships with our newly communicatable (i make up words) comrades? would society equalize or at least exhibit a higher degree of equalization?
that +
what's up with language politics? english/spanish in the US, hebrew/arabic in Israel. I guess it would be kind of weird if suddenly the dominant language in the US was french or vietnamese or something other than english. it wouldn't really be america anymore. yet the slow adoption of bilingual spanish education is somehow more palatable. it's the creation of a new american identity perhaps.
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3 comments:
But language isn't a box to put meaning in. Language is the meaning. Yosi
Yes you're right. It took me several times to process that. I get it. It's like this:
"...linguistic determinists say that the structures, hierarchies, and hidden associations of our individual human languages determine the conclusions that we reach in our logic, the aspirations of our lived lives, and all our emotional content."
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_determinism
(Also good related stuff there about Foucault's 'epistem.')
So if a different language became predominant in everyday speech, in media, in law, etc. reality would radically change.
In terms of the "fluency device" this idea complicates things. What a strange reality if we all shared the same language via proxy. The implications are amplified. Perhaps an existing thing closest to this imaginary device is the internet.
-j
Or the closest thing is English, which is a highly fluid language in terms of word choice and description, but is also rigid in terms of subject /object distinction.
Wonder if a language like Chinese taking over would change our perspective on the interrelatedness of all phenomena (people esp.)
In Chinese you can 'noun' verbs and 'verb' nouns. And there is no subject explicitly. It all depends on context baby...
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