tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27807460.post7772096170554631281..comments2024-03-22T13:57:42.835-04:00Comments on Wishydig: From whose bourn no babbler returns...Wishydighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06141057866370676641noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27807460.post-51330219506259580812007-09-21T14:42:00.000-04:002007-09-21T14:42:00.000-04:00As long as there are Deaf people, I don't foresee ...As long as there are Deaf people, I don't foresee that we will ever make it down to only one language.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02605105980598866732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27807460.post-70947388215973179032007-09-21T13:34:00.000-04:002007-09-21T13:34:00.000-04:00"...but it isn't correct to say that our children ..."...but it isn't correct to say that our children speak a different language than us, really, is it?"<BR/><BR/>You're quite right. In most cases it's probably not even different enough to be another dialect.<BR/><BR/>"But aren't we in a process of consolidation?"<BR/><BR/>It's important to distinguish between <EM>all languages merging</EM> and <EM>several languages dying</EM>. I wouldn't say that we are in a process of consolidating. If we look at languages broadly it might look that way but if we look more closely we see that differentiation continues--and regional differences not only persist--they often get clearer.Wishydighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06141057866370676641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27807460.post-29556032817164165412007-09-21T12:44:00.000-04:002007-09-21T12:44:00.000-04:00Right, Michael -- but it isn't correct to say that...Right, Michael -- but it isn't correct to say that our children speak a different language than us, really, is it? I mean, I suppose it's not exactly the same language, but it's not altogether different. When the case becomes: there is only one (ever-evolving) language in the world... <I>then</I> can we imagine the rebel inventing a language just for the sake of plurality or whatever?<BR/><BR/>In fact: this is an interesting question because it has presumably never happened in history -- the organic differences in languages that sprung out of nomadic lifestyles during the stone age or earlier explain "all these languages" that we see now. But aren't we in a process of consolidation? And isn't the end almost certainly one world language?Caseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03820693522030084335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27807460.post-59780665664658629752007-09-20T23:52:00.000-04:002007-09-20T23:52:00.000-04:00We have met the rebel. And they are our children.T...We have met the rebel. And they are our children.<BR/><BR/>Tho the whole "active resistance" part is probably not quite right.<BR/><BR/>And the <EM>invention</EM> is really more of an <EM>innovation</EM>.Wishydighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06141057866370676641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27807460.post-13213913561428168492007-09-20T22:37:00.000-04:002007-09-20T22:37:00.000-04:00I forsee a time in the relatively near future when...I forsee a time in the relatively near future when the one language has come upon us, and I wonder: can there be active resistance? Can we predict that a group of rebels will "invent" a language in the interest of maintaining difference?Caseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03820693522030084335noreply@blogger.com