Subject Of Language And Identity

Subject Of Language And Identity I have chosen this subject of language and identity, which leads to the death of a language, if language dies. Language and identity comes under my course, part 1, under language and cultural context. On the 4th of February 2010, while browsing through BBCs website I stumbled upon a captivating and according to me a very sad article. It read last speaker of ancient language of Bo dies in India, Boa sr.s story saddened me, she died at the age of 85 and for almost thirty years she didnt have anyone to converse with in her native language. Imagine not being able to use English for thirty years, you loose the freedom to express in your first language. As a journalist I knew what it meant for the world to loose a language, its disheartening, in essence a piece of history and culture is lost, I believe it is as important to preserve and save a language as it is to save and preserve the environment, but everyone is not aware of the adverse affects language death can cause. As a journalist, I thought of it as my moral responsibility to throw light on language death and its adverse effects. Thus, I wrote this article and decided on publishing it in a newspaper as it would reach a larger group of people and educate them on why they should preserve their native language. Language death Approximately 7000 languages exist in todays world and this number is rapidly dwindling, is it a cause for concern? As globalization spreads around the world, it is natural that smaller communities would like to move out of their isolation and seek interaction with the rest of the world. The number of languages dying is sorrowful. People naturally tend to shift their language use due to globalization and they leave behind their native language if it is not spoken by a lot of people. Asking them to hold onto a language they do not want anymore and preserve it, just for the sake of linguists and not the community itself, it is a bit too much to ask for, isnt it?But theres actually more to it than what meets the eye. Why fight this? A national geographic study states that every 14 days a language dies. By 2100 more than half of the languages spoken on this earth may disappear, taking away with them a wealth of knowledge on world history, culture and natural environment. Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going. Rita Mae Brown This quote by the American writer Rita Mae Brown gives us an insight into why preserving a language is of importance. A language defines a culture, through the people who speak it. Every language has words that describe a particular cultural practice or idea, when translated into another language, the precise meaning might not come across. What we essentially lose is cultural heritage. The way of expressing the relationship with nature, with the world, it is also the way in which people express humor, their love, their life; most importantly communicating effectively with family is lost. Languages are living, breathing organisms holding connections that define a culture. When a language dies a culture is lost. Because of the close links language and identity share, if an individual or group thinks of their language as useless, they think of their identity as the same. This could have adverse effects; it could lead to depression, drug abuse and social disruption. And as parents no longer pass on their language to their children the connection between grandparents and children is lost which leads to traditional values not being handed on and theres a vacuum that remains where people for generations realize they have lost something. Many languages are in danger of extinction thathave rich oral cultures with stories, songs, and histories passed on from generation to generation, but with no particular written form. Much of what us humans know about nature is encoded in oral languages. For thousands of years now native groups have interacted closely with the natural world and have insightful understanding on local lands, plants, animals, and ecosystems. Many still are not documented by science itself. Therefore studying indigenous languages proves to be beneficial while learning about the environment and conservation. Sanskrit is one such ancient language that is loosing its prominence and its speakers decreasing everyday. It was said to be the mother of all languages. Sanskrit is not practically used and maybe that is one of reasons of its decline but I believe it should be conserved because of the traditional values it possesses and because of its richness in culture. Take for instance Arthashastra, it is an Indian treatise written in Sanskrit which deals with statecraft, economic policy and military strategy it was written all the way back in 4th century BC. These concepts are not new and modern, they have been around for a long time now, if we do not conserve Sanskrit we will loose all of this valuable knowledge and also lose a piece of history. All is not lost for those who want the smaller languages to survive. Another such language dying out is Palenquero. Palenquero is thought to the one and only Spanish-based Creole language in Latin America. Fewer than half of the community speaks it. It is spoken in the village of San Basilio De Palenque. Many children and young adults understand the language and pronounce a few phrases, which is a great sign as the village of San Basilio De Palenque is trying to preserve its language and spread it, the villages resilience is commendable. And other communities whose languages are close to extinction should look at them as an example. Why do languages die out though? Throughout history, the languages of powerful groups and imperial countries have spread while the languages of the smaller cultures and groups have become extinct. This happens due to official language policies and also the allure of speaking a highly prestigious global language such as English. These trends explain why a small country like Bolivia would have more of language diversity rather than a big country like the USA. As big languages spread, children whose parents speak a comparatively smaller language tend to grow up learning the more dominant language. Those children may never learn the smaller language, or they may just forget it as it falls out of use. These trends have occurred throughout history, but what is alarming and worrying is the rate at which languages are disappearing, it has significantly accelerated over the recent years. Associations and initiatives such as Enduring voices, Living tongue, and the endangered languages project by Google are trying to preserve language and that is a sign of hope. The organizations that are involved and that have come up with these ideas are national geographic and Google. The death of a language is an indication of a human crisis: the loss of a store of wisdom, the sense of a community being thrown away. As we try to stop global warming and save the environment, we should also try and save our languages, as they are an integral part of our heritage.

Heart of Darkness – Lies

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, a lie is an untrue or inaccurate statement that may or may not be believed true by the speaker or it is something that misleads or deceives. In other words, a lie is an untruth. In life lies are told for many different reasons. In fiction they give a little more body to the plot. In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow dislikes lies and therefore only tells them in extraordinary circumstances. The lie show that Marlow, even though he has been touched by evil, he is still a good man himself; that he never actually tells a lie, though he lets others continue to believe what they already believe; and by doing this, it helps him justify the lies. Marlow, in the middle of his story, interrupts himself and says â€Å"You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie. † If reading this and only this statement alone, we can clearly see Marlow does not like lies. Marlow feels there is a â€Å"taint of death, and a flavor of mortality in lies. Lying makes him feel â€Å"miserable and sick, like biting something rotten would do. † Since he feels this way, we as the reader know that he would only tell a lie in extraordinary circumstances. The lie was told to Kurtz’s â€Å"intended† so that the beloved image of her dead fiance would not be destroyed. She has waited at least two years for her lover to return from Africa, and now he is dead. During this time she has built his image up in her mind. To her, Kurtz is a man to be admired. She feels it would be â€Å"impossible not to love him. She was proud to have been engaged to Kurtz, and would be shocked to learn of the bad things he had done in the jungle. Marlow had to decide if he should tell her the truth about Kurtz and cause her even greater sadness, or let her go on believing that he was indeed a good man. This is an extraordinary circumstance, and so one in which Marlow could tell a lie. The significance of this lie is that it would serve no purpose to tell the truth, so Marlow does not. The truth wouldn’t matter because Kurtz is dead and to tell the truth would only hurt an innocent woman who had no idea that her fiance had an evil heart. She thought that he was loved and admired by everyone who knew him, so if she would have learned of the bad things he had done, it would eternally destroy her. Marlow also showed his good side by not telling her the truth about Kurtz. This was a good ending to the novel because it means that even though Marlow has met a man with a â€Å"Heart of Darkness,† and that even after facing his own darkness, he has come out of the jungle morally unchanged, for the most part. He is still a good human being with feelings and a sense of right and wrong. If we read closely, we see that Marlow never actually told a lie. He simply allowed others to continue to believe an untruth. The â€Å"intended† thought Kurtz as a good man, and Marlow allowed her to continue to believe just that. Also the â€Å"intended† remains as unknowing of the truth as she always has, and remains a part of the foreboding darkness with which the story ends. As a gentleman, Marlow feels that women are to be protected and insulated from any unpleasantness, he states that â€Å"the women are out of touch with truth†, that they are incapable of dealing with any reality. Since he never actually told a lie, he was better able to justify them to himself. In conclusion, Marlow dislikes lies, and only tells them in extraordinary circumstances. When he does lie, it is for the sake of others, not for himself. This shows that he is a civil and kind human being. It is unfortunate that all lies are not told with such dignified purpose. The world would be a better place if they were. Though, Marlow’s quest for truth is never really fulfilled at the end of the novel because of the lie. The truth did not set him free; instead it put him further into the â€Å"darkness†.

Applying Public Health Principles For The Hiv Epidemic

Article One: Applying Public Health Principles to the HIV Epidemic In the article â€Å"Applying public health principles to the (HIV) epidemic† I learned that the HIV virus is spread by people who do not know that they are infected. This article argues that it is time to find a comprehensive public health method that will help stopped this epidemic from spreading even more. This article also talks about the ways HV is transmitted and what can we do to protect ourselves from this virus. It took two decades for the United States to figure out a plan to report HIV cases. Now the best thing we can do is come up with a plan to make people aware of this virus so that it will not kill thousands of people in the next decade. We should improve the community and counseling of individual patients to prevent transmission. Also let the virus be talked about in schools and ask parents to explain this as well. Supporting patients with the virus understand how important it is to return to care and take all appointments seriously, and improving the availabil ity of effective treatment could further reduce transmission. In the United States, if scientist come up with a plan; and educate more people we might have the potential to prevent at least half of all cases of HIV infection each year.† Frieden, Thomas R,M.D., M.P.H., Das-Douglas M, Kellerman, Scott E,M.D., M.P.H., Henning KJ, M.D. Applying public health principles to the HIV epidemic. N Engl J Med 2005 Dec 01;353(22):2397-402.Show MoreRelatedApplying Scientific Standards For Aids1433 Words   |  6 PagesApplying Scientific Standards to AIDs In an interconnected world, the possibility for spreading diseases is incredibly high compared to centuries past. Notorious epidemics like the Black Plague or smallpox were relatively contained to a single continent, until the Europeans brought smallpox to the Americas. 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The Laws Of Same Sex Marriage - 800 Words

Advice to a U.S. State Senator on whether natural law might determine whether passing a statute prohibiting same-sex marriage is an appropriate legislative act? State marriage laws are generally defined as the union between one man and one woman. However, a law is in the process of being passed in an effort to banned same-sex marriage. The senate must examine this law with the general appropriateness of the law and with strict scrutiny. The question is whether passing a natural law statute prohibiting same-sex marriage would be an appropriate legislative act? I will advise the senator based on Blackstone’s law of nature and its relevance to God. King’s how just and unjust laws affect society and finally Aquinas how unjust law should be rooted in eternal law. As stated by William Blackstone, man is considered to be a creature that must necessarily be subject to the laws of his creator, for he is entirely a dependent being. 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