Summary Of The Film 'The Linguists'

Dr. Keith Basso is a major player in the Linguistics and Indigenous Studies fields. His work is based on years of fieldwork done immersed within the Western Apache of Cibecue, Arizona. He spent years, studying the life and culture of the Western Apache people, and

Thesis: All three authors portray the voice of many people, who, on a daily basis, are underprivileged of speaking their own language, thus, emphasizing onto the lives of linguistic minority students around the world and how they struggle to cope in school and at home.

This is essential in asserting the author’s creditability. This quotation explains about the fact that digital technology is effective in rekindling dying languages and scripts such as N’Ko. The story of Traore’s personal experience allows the essay to be more compelling as it helps to make Traore’s story more relatable and credible to the average audience, and awards the readers with an intriguing piece of writing. Rosenberg’s approach of using real life examples works because her audience wants to hear firsthand accounts of other cultures that have either dealt or are dealing with the issue of preserving their indigenous language. She uses the story of Traore to raise interest among audience regarding this topic. By the use of anecdotes, Rosenberg makes Traore’s story more relatable and credible to her audience of linguistic minorities.

In Chapter 28 “A Writing Lesson” from Tristes Tropiques, Claude Lévi-Strauss discusses the importance of language. The Nambikwara tribe in Brazil is fascinating. Nevertheless, the Nambikwara tribe is a major symbol representing contact between natives and outsiders. Even though this type of situation has been seen many times throughout history, it will never cease to be critical in understanding the way we evolve, interact, and identify as humans. Throughout the novel, The Buddha in the Attic, Japanese women struggle to connect with new people and surroundings in America as all they have ever known was their native land, Japan. Claude Lévi-Strauss's experience in “A Writing Lesson” might be used in reading Julie Otsuka's novel as both return to the root of communication and display how linguistic barriers are so limiting.

The term ‘Sauk’ refers to an Algonquian language that is spoken by approximately 800 Indians who are natives of Northeastern part of North America. Immigration and the subsequent confiscation of land have compelled many of them to settle in America’s Midwest. Even though the speakers are said to be in their hundreds, only 5 are fluent communicators. The five are well over 70 years of age, and this depicts a scenario where the language might be extinct in a few decades time (Macaulay & Valentine, 2015; Oklahoma Sauk Language Department, 2011).

The language I choose to write about comes from right here in the United States! Currently it is endangered with about 3,500 speakers and can be classified as Uto-Aztecan It is used amongst an Indian tribe in Utah. Since it is a Native American language, there are major efforts in order to keep it alive and keep it moving from each and every generation. There is currently a Ute Language Policy that highlights laws and regulations that protect the Ute language. In this order there are roman numerals with specific headings that tell you what topic goes with the protection of the language. In the beginning is speaks about the language being integral to their culture; how “the Ute language is a living and vital language that has the ability to

Throughout the course of the semester, I have conducted research into the Cayuga language, a Northern Iroquoian idiom of ~250-300 speakers based primarily in southern Ontario, Canada (Ethnologue 2015). In the first study, I looked into the basic sociolinguistic aspects affecting this language, focusing primarily on efforts to revitalize it. It is labeled by the anthropological site Ethnologue as Moribund, and by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as Extinct (Ethnologue 2015). In part one of the current paper, I will reiterate some of the points that I made previously, while further exploring the topic of language revitalization. In the second study, I focused on the Cayuga grammar system, spending considerable time looking at the phonetics and phonology of the language, as there is not much other literature available on the morphology or syntax of the language. I briefly glossed over the prosodic system in Cayuga, later

In today’s society, there is an abundant amount of languages that we know. The most common languages are the ones we hear people speaking more often; moreover, English, Spanish, French, German, ect. Although, there are several other languages that most people do not know, for example, according to The Linguist List, a list that provides information about linguistic issues and other information, in the database there are at least 573 dead languages. Dead languages are described as a language that is no longer being used or spoken. The most common dead language that we know is Latin, except people are still familiar with the language because of the root base word we still study today for the English language. Languages like Arin, Basay, Geez, Norn, and several more, are the uncommon dead languages that a vast majority of people do not know. 2008 documentary The Linguist, directed by Jeremy Newberger, Seth Kramer, and Daniel A. Mille, is a preview of a few people traveling the world exposing dead languages and speaks why they are now dead. In one case, they talked about how kids were forced to not speak their language which gradually led it to become a deal language. Because of people not being able to live their heritage and be their true selves, that is what sparked my interest to study more about dead languages. I feel people should be able to express themselves and have the option to do and be who they want. In our class we watched The Linguist documentary that showed people finding and interpreting dead languages and showing the importance of what happens when a language dies. We see the joy in people when they find out someone cares about their language, and how to help make it become alive again.

The case of Kamchatka Ainu is an extreme case of endangered language. The language has gone out of everyday normal use, however, it has been documented, also we know its closest relatives rather well so we can reconstruct the

Scholar, Gloria Anzaldúa, in her narrative essay, “How To Tame A Wild Tongue’, speaks her many experiences on being pressured on what language to use. She then expresses how the discrimination made her to realize the ugly truth--that people reject languages that aren’t their own. She adopts logos, ethos and pathos in order to appeal toward her audience who is anyone who is not bilingual. One of the perspectives she takes on in her piece clearly expresses the relationship between language and identity and how it creates a conflict between her and the world.

A language is considered an endangered language when it is expected to become an extinct language in the very near future. When a language becomes extinct, it means that there are no more native speakers of the language, or there are no remaining people of whom it is their first language. According to recent studies there are approximately over five thousand existing languages in the world. It’s estimated by linguists that the number of languages in the world may decrease by more than fifty percent in the next hundred years (Woodbury). Many language communities make efforts to preserve and revitalize their languages that are on the brink of extinction.

I attended Culture Thursday where Michael Bach was presenting “Curious Travels of a Language Geek” (Bach, 2014) via video lecture from Kodiak Island, Alaska. Michael discussed the Alutiiq language and culture that the Kodiak Island and the southern part of Alaska once flourished with. Michael is a fluent speaker of Alutiiq and is on a crusade to revitalize the Alutiiq language and culture in Alaska. He is a Staples native and through his study abroad, travels, and time in the Air force he developed a love of language learning.

The topic was spoken by Dr. d’Almeida. Her speech about how language can be spelled the same but contain a different tone or almost separate meanings. Her use of famous writers of learning perspectives of language on how they are hidden and how they are considered inferior toward the world of whites. She also commences the strengths of possessing a hidden language and especially in the languages of Fon and of other native languages that were defined by supremacy to be kept in silence. The habit of words and the translation of words are what defines native language to be powerful and provide a sense of dominance in the importance of origin.

Language plays an important role in communication by bringing people together and enriching their relationships. Language can also alienate those who do not speak it properly, or at all, from those who do. The essays, Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, best known for her book, The Joy Luck Club, and Se Habla Espanol, by Tanya Barrientos, delve into the many powers that language holds. These essays reflect how by not speaking a language in proper form and by not speaking a language at all, affects the lives of the subjects of the stories.

Language is one of the ways anthropological ways culture is formed and retained. Influenced by location, individual backgrounds and intermingling with others of different backgrounds, languages change often and rapidly. In the beginning of the English language and culture, the only way to intermingle was to conquer or be conquered. Dialects mixed, religion developed and histories, lof and entertainment were found nightly at the Mead-Hall. Although the entire family is not in one physical place, in 2014, most people are logging on to social media at night to share stories and memories while checking out the latest hashtags and earning ‘likes’.