YOU HAVE GOT TO KNOW YOUR LANGUAGE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR CULTURE

Abstract

It is  a recurrent theme in sociolinguistics that besides fully documenting endangered languages, it is important to ensure somehow that they will continue to be used. The basic trope is that of “language death,” analogous to the extinction of species. But the analogy fails: languages do not die, though they may be abandoned by their users, usually in favor of a more widely spoken language. Those who hold that linguistic diversity increases cultural diversity – and that the equal treatment of language groups mitigates inequality between and within groups – are adopting an essentially sentimental position. It is also a fallacy: promoting minority, local and immigrant languages, which are all too often ill-equipped for modern life, actually strengthens the position of the dominant language as the only common language of communication: the more languages there are, the more English is spoken. This process can be seen at work both in post-Apartheid South Africa and in the European Union as it undergoes enlargement. Key words: sociolinguistics , endangered languages, language death, linguistic diversity,cultural diversity .