Example of an Endangered Language

One interesting language, which is unfortunately endangered, is the Basque Language. This language is spoken in northern Spain and southern France along the Pyrenees mountains. There is a community of about 630,000 speakers. It is not a highly endangered language however it is in decline, and most speakers alive now are quite elderly. The language is dying out for several reasons. In France, where the language has traditionally been spoken, it is not allowed to be used in any official places, this includes schools, courts and any government function. This has caused very few children to speak the language, and now most of the speakers in France are elderly. In Spain the language is somewhat more easily used. It is accepted as a co-official language along with Spanish in the communities where it is most spoken. However, even as an official language Spanish is still taking over. Most children learn the language at home, however few use the language when they get older and are far stronger in their use of Spanish. If this language dies a lot can be lost. This language is the last remaining pre-Indo-European in western Europe, and the language also has its own number system unlike any other in the world.

Deciding whether or not to save a language

When deciding whether or not to save a language there is one condition which must be met, the benefits of saving the language must be greater than the cost of saving the language. There are several ways to analyze the cost and benefits of saving a language. Most importantly it is easier to save a language with a large community of speakers. The cost of saving the language is significantly less if this condition is true. Other things that would bring down the cost of saving a language are conditions such as, the existence of a written form, the potential to be modernized, and if or how it is used in everyday life and religion. Although this list does not contain all the conditions that would lower cost, these are a few of the most important ones. After analyzing the cost of saving the language, the next step would be to analyze the benefits of saving the language. When trying to understand the value of saving a language there are a few things to keep in mind. Some conditions that would make a language more valuable would be an integral part to culture,an important part of religious ceremonies, or even the language's role in national pride. However, the most important benefit would be the amount of information or art recorded in the language. Analyzing the true benefit of saving a language is a very tricky process. In many cases information contained within the language will not be discovered until years after the saving of the language. Because of this, when analyzing the benefits of saving a language the possibility of finding additional information contained within the language should be taken into account.

Linguistics, Critical Thinking, and Uncertainty

Our social issues class, Linguistics 115, encourages students to think, and create new ideas based off of the presented material. By creating new ideas, instead of just regurgitating facts, the class incorporates the idea of critical thinking. For example students ponder what varieties really should be considered different languages, or what languages are categorized for only political reasons. Another opportunity for students to think critically involves the issue of language extinction. The course has taught that languages are becoming extinct all the time. Students can make their own ideas why certain languages should be preserved, and theories about how to save certain languages. Both of these examples, show opportunities where students are encouraged to think on their own rather than memorize facts, since both situation contain a level of uncertainty.

Blog Entry Number 1

Goldhagen's comparison of Pope Benedict XVI way of thinking and Nazi ideology in his article "A German Lesson" is ungrounded and unrealistic. To understand a true idea of both ideologies it is important to take each in context. The catholic church historically has been intolerant in many situations but that does not mean that the present pope follows the same exact historical manner of thinking. The church has gone through major reforms since its involvement in WWII. Goldhagen tries to connect the pope's relativism to Nazi racial and religious ideology. However each one differs greatly. The pope does claim that Catholicism is the only true religion however he never says that there aren't true or good aspects to other religions. Goldhagen even states that the pope called for open and sincere dialogue with other religions. Obviously Benedict feels that there is a reason to listen and learn from other religions. The Nazis on the other hand had a religious ideology that called for one supreme religion, while destroying every single aspect of all other religions. While the pope does think of Catholicism as the best religion he does not ever say it is a perfect religion, while the Nazi party felt that Christianity was the perfect religion.

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