Seven hundred million to one: Personal action in reversing language shift
The paper considers what influence a single person can have on language survival and transmission of knowledge, comparing and contrasting the situation of large languages such as Putonghua (traditionally called Mandarin Chinese, with 700 million speakers) and small languages such as Eyak with as few...
| Published in: | Études/Inuit/Studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Association Inuksiutiit Katimajiit Inc.
2005
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/013945ar https://doi.org/10.7202/013945ar |
| Summary: | The paper considers what influence a single person can have on language survival and transmission of knowledge, comparing and contrasting the situation of large languages such as Putonghua (traditionally called Mandarin Chinese, with 700 million speakers) and small languages such as Eyak with as few speakers as one. It examines the delights and dilemmas of such work, the practical results (such as texts and documents) and the spiritual rewards (mostly satisfaction), drawing examples from our own work of the last 35 years with Tlingit, and from the work of colleagues, especially Michael Krauss, in the context of a volume celebrating his 70th birthday and 45 years of work on behalf of Alaska Native languages and endangered indigenous languages around the world, especially in the circumpolar north. The paper is by design an informal and non-technical address to the general reader, especially members of communities whose indigenous languages are endangered. L’article considère l’influence qu’une personne peut avoir sur une langue qui lutte pour sa survie linguistique et sur la transmission de cette langue, en comparant et contrastant la situation des langues répandues, telles que le putonghua (plus traditionnellement appellé le chinois mandarin, avec 700 millions de locuteurs) et des langues peu répandues, telles que la langue eyak que seulement une personne parle. L’article examine les joies et les dilemmes qu'apportent de tels travaux, les résultats pratiques (i.e. textes et documents) et les récompenses spirituelles (principalement des satisfactions) tirés d’exemples de nos propres travaux des dernières 35 années à étudier la langue tlingit, et des travaux de nos collègues, spécialement Michael Krauss, dans le contexte d’un volume célébrant son 70e anniversaire et aussi ses 45 ans de travaux au nom des différentes langues des Autochtones de l’Alaska et des langues indigènes en voie de disparition autour du monde, spécialement autour du cercle polaire de l’hémisphère nord. L’article a un but non-formel et ... |
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