Of the world’s almost 7,000 languages, half will be gone in hundred years due to colonialism
450 of those languages are already in their final stages of breathing, with a handful of elderly speakers left of each language.
On the contrary, everyone will begin to speak a similar language and better communicate with each other.
Yeah, no. Anyone who uses anything akin to the ‘let’s go Esperanto on the world’ argument to defend linguicides, i.e. the destruction of a people’s cultural linguistic heritage or in other words, anyone who thinks that the killing or death of a language is justified because we will all start to speak the same language gets laughed at in my world.
Imposed language change is a prime example of racism in action. If anything, it is one of the biggest reasons as to why we still live in a world where minorities are denied basic human rights. If you don’t speak the prescribed majority language, you’re denied a voice.
The Subaltern does not speak and with linguicides we make sure that this is not just a saying but the truth as well.
If you take a people and make sure that you strip them of their linguistic identities through a number of social, political and educational practices in order to hand them a new language, which they will never fully master, but which they are told is better than whatever they used to speak, you’re going to foster a society where depression, suicide and social stigmas form major parts of these peoples’ lives.
Forced language change is never a good thing.
I’m just gonna spend the next 2 hours wishing Johan taught at my school and quietly worshiping him.
