Star Trek universal translator — soon not needed on Earth
Researchers Say Many Languages Are Dying
When every known speaker of the language Amurdag gets together, there’s still no one to talk to. Native Australian Charlie Mungulda is the only person alive known to speak that language, one of thousands around the world on the brink of extinction. From rural Australia to Siberia to Oklahoma, languages that embody the history and traditions of people are dying, researchers said Tuesday.
While there are an estimated 7,000 languages spoken around the world today, one of them dies out about every two weeks, according to linguistic experts struggling to save at least some of them.
Losing languages means losing knowledge, says K. David Harrison, an assistant professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College.
“When we lose a language, we lose centuries of human thinking about time, seasons, sea creatures, reindeer, edible flowers, mathematics, landscapes, myths, music, the unknown and the everyday.”
As many as half of the current languages have never been written down, he estimated.
Excellent. The gradual homogenization of culture and language is a good thing. A goal to strive for.
So according to this in 67 years there will be only one language. Hmm some how I doubt that.
No homogenization of cultures and language is NOT a good thing. Without it there is no diversity without diversity life is boring.
Theres diversity and then theres division. Pointless divisions like race, language and nationality serve up strife every day. The us vs them mentality has got to stop.
#1 I agree, I think we should all become Dutch.
The problem is that many of the dying languages have no alphabet, or any written form, and thus no written culture or literature to study. Most Native American languages that survive today is because someone bothered to create a written form and dictionaries.
Globalization is quite the force to be reckoned with, however it must be pointed out that the speakers of these languages are free to abandon their own language if they want to. The job of language is more to communicate ideas to procure life’s necessities than to preserve culture.
Human language is a living thing, that evolves over time, just like species and sometimes language branches are abandoned.
I for one will not be losing any sleep.
As for achieving a single language? I submit that if that were possible, Japanese would have died long ago.
I further submit that the following languages will continue their dominance in their respective geographical centers and thrive for another few centuries at least — English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Portugese.
GREEK rules!
>>The gradual homogenization of culture and language is a good
>>thing. A goal to strive for.
Hey, once your dream comes true of everyone commuting 100 mi/day round trip from and to the suburbs, I’m sure this will be soon to follow.
Dxn do ityy ohhf etroood patmmw oeury mpaofc
#3 Amen
Well, I’ll still keep my babelfish just in case.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with iGlobalWarmer on this one though. Despite all the loss of beautiful culture, we need to become a single planetary society and stop warfaring in order to survive as a species. Much that is beautiful will be lost in the process. Oh well. It’s not as bad as the loss of species we’re already experiencing.
Mankind requires a language to communicate. Thats all it is. A medium for communication. Some cultures may have variations of the same medium, but in the end, there is translation, which goes to show they are completely interchangeable.
To say a culture may die because they start speaking english is ridiculous. Culture is built on the basis of history. monuments, historic sites, memories… these make up culture, not how you say hello or goodbye. Cultures all over the world speak their native tongue, and choose to learn a second language. They’ve done it for hundreds of years.
Why is it difficult to foresee a future in which you can fly anywhere in the world, and carry on a full conversation with someone that lives 5000 miles from your home, without the need for interpreters or dictionaries. In my opinion, that would be the ultimate evolution. Too many fights are started through simple misunderstandings.
we need to become a single planetary society and stop warfaring in order to survive as a species.
Not to be a Star Trek Geekamo, but that provision was key into being accepted into the Federation. Makes sense. This country used to be that way, now everyone is a hyphenated this and a hyphenated that. Maintaining your culture is good. Maintaining cultural division is not.
Ahoy ye landlubberin’ scurvy dawgs! Yer one true language be Pirate!
Arrgghhhhh!!!!
Arrrghhh!!!! That be a tri-vibrator-hair-trimmer combo from Ron Popeil!
There’s some good thought structures being lost, for example one of the Aleut languages clearly identified what was heard from another and what was known from personal experience, but all languages change, so we could turn around and say that “English” has become a dead language because so few can recite “Beowulfe” in the original dialect.
IOW, “Dead issue of no importance”.
>>Despite all the loss of beautiful culture, we need to become a
>>single planetary society and stop warfaring in order to survive
>>as a species.
“People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.”
Just imagine, when your beloved Noo Yawk Schitty is a teeming cauldron of Olive Gardens, TGIFs, and mall stores.
But, but, but – if everywhere is the same, people won’t be traveling to see “something different”..Which of course, means smaller Carbon Footprint (TM).
Homogenization saves Mother Earth from Global Warming.
Just trying to help.
>>if everywhere is the same
Everywhere won’t be the same. It will just be a boring, dull-as-dishwater mélange of Olive Gardens and TGIFs, with the “waitstaff” speaking the same language.
However, the top of Mount Everest will still be quite different from the Dry Tortugas and Athens.
Until the Geographical Homogenization Police come, and turn everything into suburban strip malls.
#12.You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about….
The Internet has become the tower of LABEB.
English is such a low class thieving whore – sleep with anybody, steal from everybody – it is guaranteed to win out in the end.
#19 – I’m only speaking of cultural diversity. Geographical diversity is a good thing. Traveling to see geography is fun and cool. Traveling to see culture is a waste of time and only bearable if you’re drinking beer while doing it.
Now, only if we could get rid of the French.
Reminds me of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Lathe Of Heaven” —
From space.com:
http://tinyurl.com/2bpl4v
16–Nice point: “There’s some good thought structures being lost, for example one of the Aleut languages clearly identified what was heard from another and what was known from personal experience,”
But is that “thought structure” lost at all?? As in “I’ve heard” vs “One time I”–engrish is the best language yet evolved because it has more words, more gradations of meanings, more thought structures than any other language. And of course, what we don’t already have should and will be incorporated. Schafenfreud (sp–who cares?) is carried in a phrase, but a single word would be good.
A very common example is that in Engrish there is some 10-12 words used to describe precipitation, but the Aleuts (again?) have over 60. Their culture demands attention to weather. Ours does not. You want to keep that culture alive?–no thanks.
Yeah those poor people need to learn to stay poor and dirty, because we here in the West think something is lost if they join the rest of the world.
#18 – Homogenization saves Mother Earth from Global Warming.
You really are sick and evil all rolled together into one pungent high carb snack treat….
#19 – Everywhere won’t be the same. It will just be a boring, dull-as-dishwater mélange of Olive Gardens and TGIFs, with the “waitstaff” speaking the same language.
I’m with you…
The first time I was ever in Los Angeles I was bowled over by how much it looked exactly like Kansas City or Cleveland, only with a beach and some Palm Trees.
Speaking as an Urbanite and a Chicagoan, LA sucks ass.
#23 – Traveling to see culture is a waste of time and only bearable if you’re drinking beer while doing it.
I used to think that outlandishly absurd absolutist statements were a scream. But now that I read that sort of drivel coming from others, I realize that I might actually sound like a pompous ass when I do it too.
>>Traveling to see culture is a waste of time and only bearable if
>>you’re drinking beer while doing it.
I thought that’s why God gave us ice fishing.
>>Now, only if we could get rid of the French.
Now, if only we could get rid of YOU.
#29 – “I thought that’s why God gave us ice fishing.” – there is that 🙂
#24 – I’ve softenened on the French – you at least have to give them credit for having nude beaches with hot women on the Mediterranean.
#29 – MM,
(tangent)
An idiot goes ice fishing. He goes out on the ice and begins to cut a hole. He hears a loud booming voice say
“THERE ARE NO FISH DOWN THERE.”
He walks another 20 feet out and starts to cut again and hears
“THERE ARE NO FISH DOWN THERE.”
He asks, “Who are you that are so wise in the ways of fish?”
“THE RINK MANAGER”
(/tangent)