Friday, December 13, 2019

They took away my language


It seems since we left the puddle and migrated out of Africa we formed family groups, then tribes, then territories and then countries.
To communicate with one another, we created a language.
Our language described where to find food, where water was, where shelter was. We taught your children language so they could carry on the communication. We would learn new things and find new places and make new words.
On the other side of the ridge were some others who created a different language.
As we colonize (conquer) one-another, we must all learn the same language. It is call assimilation.
Children are taught only one language and lost their native tongue.
Archeologist who will decipher the symbols but won’t be able to speak the words will dig up ancient writings.  
The indigenous people will lose their culture and forget their language as a requirement to assimilation.
Look forward a few years.
In movies like “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” (and even “ET”) everyone speaks English. Even Darth Vader speaks in that low grumble James Earl Jones voice in English sentences. I guess it beats subtitles to translate for the viewers.
But suppose the English speakers have to learn Klingon or Romulan or Vulcan?
How many do you know who are bilingual enough to speak Lakota?

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