Are languages disappearing?
a very interesting question that cropped up when my roommate and i were just sitting and talking.. my roomie is a big tamil buff and knows the thirukkural and all(i don't even know how to spell it).... and here i am... a mallu who doesn't know how to write malayalam properly... it's really sad.
He was just saying how tamil and sanskrit are the only two languages which have developed to an unparalleled level... and they used to exist side by side in india... without one affecting the other's development in anyway...but now the villian in the form 'English' comes...(witha small role played by hindi)to such an extent that sanskrit has disappeared from daily use. and tamil according to my roomie is also disappearing and in twenty years time there would be no tamil..... im' not sure if he's talking about classical tamil or about just normal tamil. whichever he was talking about...i don't think there is a problem about a language like malayalam even... let alone tamil disappearing. because of the basic fact that so few people in rural areas get english education... is that good? or bad? on the one hand it is argued that Tamil-medium or malayalam-medium are not as good as english-medium schools... i see two main reasons for this.....firstly and i think importantly... this prejudice that this is true... most good and capable students move to English medium schools and secondly GLOBALISATION... it is absolutely necessary that we know english to survive in this modern world where everyone and everyplace is connected....
which brings me to another interesting question... is all this networking and making the world a smaller place really good for humanity.... it's quite an obvious fact that smaller communities will be able to develop faster...i read that in some michael Crichton book....he explained with an example of how a group of 4 people will be able to make a decision and solve problems much faster than a group of say thirty.... so with all these advancements in technology and telecommunication are we really going to slow down human evolution?
or am i just really sleepy????
posted by Vaisagh at 7:52 AM
7 Comments:
That many languages are facing extinction,
is a confirmed fact.In fact many(including
the dialects and variations of the
same language)are already non existent .
I believe that vital for the survival
of any language is the usage of it -
in daily life,in cultural and educational
fields.Hence as usage decreases ,
the loop has been formed for the execution.
In time of greeks it was considered necessary for any scientific personality
to know greek.Later when science florished
in Germany (in Gottingen,etc) it was considered that german was an essentiality.This illustrates that
the growth of language depends on its
usage.
I personally feel that the scientific literature in malayalam etc is limited.
I dont think that developments in I-net etc directly affects languages .But availability of hi-tech entertainment,
reduces the need for appreciation of literature and art ,which is why many people neglect languages in general,and in
particular their own language.
There is no reason why languages need not
disappear but for the ones that
are really necessary and essential.
But for one, variety is the backbone of
any civilisation and its destroyal by
any cause is not good .
Moreover ,language forms an important entity that connnects one with one's people and land.
mkb
9:21 PM
Hi,this is his roomie .According to me,two ancient languages of india sankrit and tamil are facing extinction.I know that sankrit now not been spoken anywhere in india.Tamil is spoken and exist.Sankrit and tamil exist independently in india without affecting each other,but there was great influence between two languages in literature.
I know that two great epics "Ramayana and Mahabharatha" exist in both languages.So it means that both languages orginated in same time but in different parts of india..There were poets who wrote poems in both languages..I know in tamil literature sankrit is denoted as "vadamozhi".But now english came and eroded tamil and sanskrit..Even tamil songs has too many english words instead of tamil words ,this is manly due to poet's inefficiency in tamil literature.In tamil nadu's capital chennai U can find students who r studying french and hindi more than tamil.Parents didnt understood the philosophy behind the tamil literature.I'm ashamed that in tamil nadu only 78% of people knows to write and read tamil.There was no such great literary work in any languages except sanskrit& Tamil found before 3BC..We can find such great works in sankrit and tamil.Why people in India r more fascinated abt foreign languages instead of their own mother tongue.Its because british people controlled us.Since They ruled us ,we admired their language.Its basic human instinct that "people always think abt people who r hingher than them".
Now nobody can save sangam tamil from extinction.But we can save tamil from extinct.for that people in tamil nadu must know abt ethics in their mother tongue..
With that i'm done
6:50 PM
That English words are used frequently in
Indian languages is not a bad thing ,I feel.
For,there are words which are very short in
English but in Indian languages can be
very long and cumbersome.For eg,for
switch in English,if I were to use
the exact malayalam equivalent ,
I would have to say ,vidhyuthchalakayandram.
This is because ,these things originated in the western world.If many things are done in
our languages ,which the world look up to
then ,our languages will not easily die.
I also feel that mixing of languages is a
natural phenomenon when the societies intermingle.
That 78 percent of people dont know how to
read and write is not so mind boggling a fact.When people are trying to find a
way for the next square meal , who wants
to learn the non senses like language?
What use is philosophy for them?
mkb.
10:30 PM
I never said "Dont learn foreign languages".I only said "Dont forget ur mother tongue".I understand the necessity of english in our daily life but at the same time we must respect our mother tongue and try spreading that languages to the world community.When english people did it "Why not we do the same things"..
7:34 AM
Wat the prev person has said is 100% true.. In our day to day life we feel that English lang is essential for interaction & conversation in Mixed society BUT one should not forget their mother tongue & has no rights to criticise it also..
Well.. we youngsters are responsible for preventing our Mother tongues from eroding..
We have to put our hands together to spread propaganda to our future generations to witheld our lang.. WE ONLY HAVE THE RIGHTS ... Lets make a difference
JAI Hind..
12:10 AM
elaneer vellam....
hehehe hope u know who I am!
Honestly, after reading the 5 intellectual responses above, all I can say is...........
YES U ARE TOO SLEEPY, STOP WORRYING ABOUT SUCH NONSENCE & GO TO SLEEEP! lol!
8:50 AM
elaneer vellam
Okie we need to change the above now! Anyways, mister you are 250 years old? Are u even able to read all this with that failing eyesight?
8:52 AM
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