There are 3 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1a. OT: Language in the 2009 Constitution of Bolivia.
From: Leonardo Castro
1b. Re: OT: Language in the 2009 Constitution of Bolivia.
From: Padraic Brown
2a. Re: Linguist Finds a Language in Its Infancy
From: Padraic Brown
Messages
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1a. OT: Language in the 2009 Constitution of Bolivia.
Posted by: "Leonardo Castro" [email protected]
Date: Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:30 am ((PDT))
Bolivia 2009 Constitution [1] officialized a lot of languages [2], but
also established that at least two languages must be used in any place
and one of them must be Spanish.
Any comments? Do you think it's an effective policy for language preservation?
They also adopted Quechua concepts as ethical principles [3].
Até mais!
Leonardo
[1] http://www.patrianueva.bo/constitucion/
[2] "aymara, araona, baure, bésiro, canichana, cavineño, cayubaba,
chácobo, chimán, ese ejja, guaraní, guarasu'we, guarayu, itonama,
leco, machajuyai-kallawaya, machineri, maropa, mojeño-trinitario,
mojeño-ignaciano, moré, mosetén, movima, pacawara, puquina, quechua,
sirionó, tacana, tapiete, toromona, uru-chipaya, weenhayek, yaminawa,
yuki, yuracaré y zamuco"
[3] "El Estado asume y promueve como principios ético-morales de la
sociedad plural: ama qhilla, ama llulla, ama suwa (no seas flojo, no
seas mentiroso ni seas ladrón), suma qamaña (vivir bien), ñandereko
(vida armoniosa), teko kavi (vida buena), ivi maraei (tierra sin mal)
y qhapaj ñan (camino o vida noble)."
"Los símbolos del Estado son la bandera tricolor rojo, amarillo y
verde; el himno boliviano; el escudo de armas; la wiphala; la
escarapela; la flor de la kantuta y la flor del patujú."
Messages in this topic (2)
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1b. Re: OT: Language in the 2009 Constitution of Bolivia.
Posted by: "Padraic Brown" [email protected]
Date: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:51 am ((PDT))
> From: Leonardo Castro <[email protected]>
>
> Bolivia 2009 Constitution [1] officialized a lot of languages [2], but
> also established that at least two languages must be used in any place
> and one of them must be Spanish.
>
> Any comments?
Sure...
> Do you think it's an effective policy for language preservation?
Not at all. Constitutions come and go --- this is a well known aspect of,
especially, Latin American history. I would not rely on such a slippery
document of government to hang my linguistic hat on.
Real language preservation has always come from the heart of the people.
We know this from real world experience: Hebrew was reanimated by the
will of the people (and it does have government backing); Cornish is
being revived by the will of the people (no particular government sanction
there, I don't think); a number of North American Native languages are
being conserved / revived, again, by the will of the people. Nothing in
our constitution about any language at all.
If a people see the value in their language and feel a need to preserve it
(or revive it), then they will. If they feel no need or see no value in it, then
they will find another language that suits their needs. This is why I don't
mourm language death (though I might prefer that they seek preservation).
So rather than enact useless constitutional ammendments, I think what is
needed is a "cultural ammendment" -- non Native peoples (European /
Spanish speakers) as well as Natives need to see the value in the Native
languages, and then they need to connect that value with everyday
education and commerce.
That said, you can't just let everyone speak a hodgepodge, a babel of
different languages. A country without some single language that everyone
can speak will naturally fall apart. Or never come together in the first place.
The natural choice in Bol. would be Spanish, as English would be ours.
After that, I don't really care how many languages people speak or use!
Once value is ascribed to these languages, all the people need to have an
opportunity to learn about them. There are too many to really offer full
courses on them all, but certainly survey courses could be offered for many.
Full courses should be offered for the main ones.
> They also adopted Quechua concepts as ethical principles [3].
Allin! That's interesting. So are they going to restore the monarchy? ;)))
I'm sure there are descendants of the Inca still floating about...
Padraic
> Até mais!
>
> Leonardo
>
> [1] http://www.patrianueva.bo/constitucion/
> [2] "aymara, araona, baure, bésiro, canichana, cavineño, cayubaba,
> chácobo, chimán, ese ejja, guaraní, guarasu'we, guarayu, itonama,
> leco, machajuyai-kallawaya, machineri, maropa, mojeño-trinitario,
> mojeño-ignaciano, moré, mosetén, movima, pacawara, puquina, quechua,
> sirionó, tacana, tapiete, toromona, uru-chipaya, weenhayek, yaminawa,
> yuki, yuracaré y zamuco"
> [3] "El Estado asume y promueve como principios ético-morales de la
> sociedad plural: ama qhilla, ama llulla, ama suwa (no seas flojo, no
> seas mentiroso ni seas ladrón), suma qamaña (vivir bien), ñandereko
> (vida armoniosa), teko kavi (vida buena), ivi maraei (tierra sin mal)
> y qhapaj ñan (camino o vida noble)."
> "Los símbolos del Estado son la bandera tricolor rojo, amarillo y
> verde; el himno boliviano; el escudo de armas; la wiphala; la
> escarapela; la flor de la kantuta y la flor del patujú."
>
Messages in this topic (2)
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2a. Re: Linguist Finds a Language in Its Infancy
Posted by: "Padraic Brown" [email protected]
Date: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:13 am ((PDT))
> From: Nicole Valicia Thompson-Andrews <[email protected]>
>
> Interesting. It got me to thinking about Yardish. If Silknish speakers came
> into
> contact with Yardish speakers, would that mean that one language was a
> proto-language?
No. This is like saying I went to France for a vacation, therefore English is a
proto-
language for French. What you're saying really means that two groups of people
speaking different languages have met up with each other.
> Does it have to be?
Don't worry --- it's not!
A proto-language is simply a (usually hypothetical) ancestral form of a
language.
The reconstructed language called "Proto-Germanic" is one of English's proto-
languages. "Indo-European" is an even older proto-language for them both.
English is descended from P.Gmc which in turn is descended from I.E.
> What's a Creole, and could Yardish have one?
Not "a Creole", but simply "Creole". "Creole" is the name of a language spoken
in Haiti. It sounds like French but its grammar is quite different. "A creole"
is a
kind of language that results from two populations speaking very different
languages
coming into permanent contact with one another such that they form a community.
A community needs a language in order to function, and so people will naturally
meld their languages together. What generally happens first is a kind of
bastardised
speech develops -- a pidgin -- which tends to be very simple in terms of
grammar.
These don't last long, and as children of the two groups grow up in this mixed
language
environment, they will develop their own language, which is called a creole.
Usually
one language will dominate with regard to vocabulary while the other dominates
with
regard to grammar -- yet there is a mixture or blending of the two. If you read
Creole
at all, you will find loads of French words, but the grammar is all different.
Yardish could be involved in the formation of a creole, yes. You'd need to look
into
the way creoles are formed, and then look at the history of Yardish to
determine if
there is a place where such a thing could arise within the conculture's history.
> If the language has just been discovered, who named it?
Depends. Many such "discoveries" are just scientists finding things that the
locals
have known about forever. If I had to guess, I'd say this language already has
a name
(even if it's just "Language" or "Way We Talk" or the like).
Padraic
> Mellissa Green
Messages in this topic (6)
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