I work in a library, so you can rightly assume I am interested in language and the written word.
Books are a drop of ink added to someone's thoughts - and if you enjoy reading or writing - that ink is like a drug. I've been addicted since I was 7 years old. Some of my very best childhood memories are being read to by my Mother and summer-time trips to the bookmobile when school was out.
Through literature, we learn facts we never knew, we feel the emotions of others, we share experiences common to humans in all their variety.
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| We are our words. |
Though we don't all speak the same language, when we write something down, we are creating a tool that can be used to unlock what we are saying so that others can understand.
No one really
knows how or when humans began to use language.
There are two opposing views:
1. The Discontinuity Theory - which says that a single
chance mutation occurred in one individual about 100,000 years ago which
triggered an “instantaneous” emergence of the language faculty. [Kind of like
the “Big Bang” theory of how the
Universe was created.]
2. The Continuity Theory – which sees language as something
that is innate in humans and that came about in a gradual way as a socially
used tool. Some say the spoken word
evolved from the human capacity for song! CLICK ON LINK BELOW
We do know that Sumerian (Spoken in southern Mesopotamia, now called Iraq)
is the oldest WRITTEN language and it dates from the 4th century BC.
is the oldest WRITTEN language and it dates from the 4th century BC.
Currently, there are approximately 6,000 spoken languages in the world, but only about 80 of them can be classified as being primary WRITTEN languages! How can that be? Well, the main reason for language diversity in the first place, is because communities in remote locations were isolated from each other.
HERE ARE SOME SAMPLES OF ANCIENT TEXTS
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| Chinese |
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| Aztec |
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| Egyptian
With the development of satellite TV’s radios, the
Internet and mobile phones
-all infiltrating even the most secluded areas- there are
very few humans todayThat are not in communication with other people and places. Usually, whatever Language is the most dominant nationally, is the one that is written and taught In the schools. Therefore, while people may still speak their private tongue at home, they will begin to use the dominant language for their written and verbal daily communications with others. After a couple of generations, ethnic languages disappear simply because they are not being used by, or taught to, those younger.
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RUSSIAN
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ARABIC
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CHINESE
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ENGLISH
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FRENCH
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SPANISH
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Below
is a graph of the top 10 languages used on the Internet per millions of users
English
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Chinese
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Spanish
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Japanese
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Portuguese
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German
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Arabic
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French
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Russian
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Korean
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536.3
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444.9
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153.3
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99.1
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82.5
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75.2
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65.4
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59.8
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69.7
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39.4
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All the rest of the world=350.6 million
I predict that in the future we will all be using one common
language worldwide.
What a tragic loss! We will finally be able to understand each other, but the great tapestry of
words that each culture has woven over the years; the ONE thing that was created by its own
people that made it distinct from everyone else, will be gone. And once gone, lost forever.
No translation - however precise - will be able to convey the emotions of a poem in exactly
the way it was originally written. SEE EXAMPLE BELOW:
words that each culture has woven over the years; the ONE thing that was created by its own
people that made it distinct from everyone else, will be gone. And once gone, lost forever.
No translation - however precise - will be able to convey the emotions of a poem in exactly
the way it was originally written. SEE EXAMPLE BELOW:
As originally
written by William Carlos Williams
This is Just to Say
I have eaten
The plums
That were in
The icebox
And which
You were probably
Saving
For breakfast
Forgive me
They were delicious
So sweet
And so cold
Cookie Monster’s
translation:
Me Telling You
This just to say Me eat the cookies
in the cookie jar
Maybe you saving for snack time?
Me sorry. They
delicious!
So yummy and om nom nom
Even if you can't understand another language, the beauty of it in both it's oral and written
form is still something you can appreciate. Look at these examples:
ENGLISH
"Two
roads diverged in a wood, and I - / I took the one less traveled by, / And that
has made
all the difference." The
Road Not Taken, Robert Frost
SPANISH
"Dos
caminos se bifurcaban en un bosque, y yo
- / Yo tomé el
menos transitado, /
Y eso ha hecho toda la diferencia." El camino no tomado, Robert Frost
Y eso ha hecho toda la diferencia." El camino no tomado, Robert Frost
"How do I
love thee? Let me count the ways. / I love thee to the depth and breadth and
height /
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight / For the ends of being and ideal grace."
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight / For the ends of being and ideal grace."
How Do I Love
Thee?, Elizabeth Barrett
FRENCH
"Comment puis-je
t'aime? Permettez-moi de compter
les façons. / Je t'aime à la profondeur
et la largeur et la hauteur / Mon âme peut atteindre, quand on se sent hors de la vue / Pour
les fins d'être et de grâce idéale."Comment puis-je t'aime?, Elizabeth Barrett
et la largeur et la hauteur / Mon âme peut atteindre, quand on se sent hors de la vue / Pour
les fins d'être et de grâce idéale."Comment puis-je t'aime?, Elizabeth Barrett
ENGLISH
In Xanadu did
Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
/ Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea."
Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
CHINESE (with
English Characters)
“Zài shìwàitáoyuán zuò hū bì liè/ A fùlì tánghuáng de huānlè qiú
fǎlìng/zài nǎlǐ de ALPH, shénshèng de héliú, yùnxíng/rén/xià yīgè méiyǒu
yángguāng de dàhǎi wúliàng tōngguò róngdòng. Sāi móu ěr·tàilēi·kē lēi lǜ zhì
de “hū bì liè”
de “hū bì liè”
CHINESE (with Chinese Characters)
在世外桃源做忽必烈/ A富丽堂皇的欢乐球法令/在哪里的ALPH，神圣的河流，
运行/人/下一个没有阳光的大海无量通过溶洞。塞缪尔·泰勒·柯勒律治的“忽必烈
Look at how delicate the CHINESE script is above. It's like some beautiful art!
"O, my
Luve's like a red, red rose, / That's newly sprung in June. / O, my Luve's like
the melodie /
That's sweetly played in tune." A Red, Red Rose, Robert Burns
That's sweetly played in tune." A Red, Red Rose, Robert Burns
IRISH
"O, Tá mo
Luve cosúil le dearg,
d'ardaigh dearg, /
Sin sprung nua
i mí an Mheithimh. /
O, tá mo Luve cosúil leis an melodie / Sin a bhí binn i dtiúin."
A Dearg, Dearg Rose, Robert Burns
O, tá mo Luve cosúil leis an melodie / Sin a bhí binn i dtiúin."
A Dearg, Dearg Rose, Robert Burns
The Language of BOOKS
ENGLISH: Alice was
beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the riverbank, and
of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading,
but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book', thought Alice,
'without pictures or conversation?' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading,
but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book', thought Alice,
'without pictures or conversation?' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
RUSSIAN (with English alphabet)
Elis nachinayet poluchat' ochen' ustala sidet' yeye sestroy na
beregu reki , i ot nechego delat': odin ili
dva raza ona zaglyanula v knigu yeye sestra chitala , no eto ne bylo kartinok, ni razgovorov v nem, i to,
chto yavlyayetsya ispol'zovaniyeknigi " , podumala Alisa , " bez kartinok ili razgovor ?
Priklyucheniya Alisy v strane chudes, L'yuis Kerroll
dva raza ona zaglyanula v knigu yeye sestra chitala , no eto ne bylo kartinok, ni razgovorov v nem, i to,
chto yavlyayetsya ispol'zovaniyeknigi " , podumala Alisa , " bez kartinok ili razgovor ?
Priklyucheniya Alisy v strane chudes, L'yuis Kerroll
RUSSIAN (using Russian Alphabet)
Элис начинает получать очень устала сидеть ее сестрой на берегу реки, и от
нечего делать: один или два раза
она заглянула в
книгу ее сестра читала, но
это не было картинок, ни разговоров
в нем, и то, что
является использование книги ",
подумала Алиса," без картинок
или разговор?
Приключения Алисы в стране чудес, Льюис Кэрролл
Приключения Алисы в стране чудес, Льюис Кэрролл
The Russian Alphabet is so pretty!
ENGLISH:
"If you really want to hear about it, the
first thing you'll probably want to know is where I
was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all
was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all
before they had
me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into
ARABIC:
إذا كنت تريد حقا أن نسمع
عن ذلك، فإن أول شيء عليك ربما تريد
أن تعرف أين ولدت، وما هو رديء مثل طفولتي، وكيف احتلت
والدي وجميع قبل
كان لديهم لي، وكل
ما ديفيد كوبرفيلد النوع من حماقة، ولكنني لا
أشعر الخوض في ذلك، إذا كنت تريد أن تعرف الحقيقة. الماسك في راي من قبل
J. D. سالينغر.
Who knew what Catcher in the Rye looked like when written in Arabic? Or even that it had been translated into Arabic? Since it has, then it must mean that they are reading it!
ENGLISH
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must
be in want of a wife." Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must
be in want of a wife." Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
ITALIAN
E
'una verità universalmente
riconosciuta che uno scapolo in possesso di una
buona
fortuna debba essere in cerca di una moglie. Orgoglio
e pregiudizio di Jane Austen
The very English sentiments of Jane Austin translate beautifully into Italian.
"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."
GERMAN
Zwei
Häuser, beide gleich an Würde,
In Fair Verona, wo wir legen unsere Szene,
Von den alten Groll Pause, um neue Meuterei
Wo zivilen Blut macht zivile Hände unrein.
Romeo und Julia von William Shakespeare
In Fair Verona, wo wir legen unsere Szene,
Von den alten Groll Pause, um neue Meuterei
Wo zivilen Blut macht zivile Hände unrein.
Romeo und Julia von William Shakespeare
When you see English words translated into German side by side you can almost
understand German even if you don't speak it!
I love languages! I love how we have evolved differently, even though we are all one people.
It would be a shame to lose our diversities altogether. Our differences are what make us
interesting!
Are the LINKS below the future of language? Let's hope not!
Runes from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Dinosaur Language from Dinotopia
