Revisionism in Language as Culture
Reader comment on: Dying Languages

Submitted by Mike King, Dec 29, 2006 01:44

I was trained as a thinker in the language as culture era, not as a futurist, and have to wonder about some of the lesser important, annoying aspects of your thesis. Does this mean that Mao was right to murder all those people led by the Dali Lama? And Franco? Was he right to kill all those Basques whose Northern Spanish isolation kept their language pure for all those centuries? Just because they didn't want to give up their languages? Of course not.

I suppose you mean to say that the extinction of 6,000 languages would not be so bad if it were to be done without deliberate bloodshed over the idea. Am I right? I certainly enjoyed your article as innovative, thought-provoking and interesting.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
I am multilingual, and have often thought along the same tracks. I do think the human race loses something intrinsically... [MORE]	Jack Rail	Jan 1, 2007 01:09
I was trained as a thinker in the language as culture era, not as a futurist, and have to wonder...	Mike King	Dec 29, 2006 01:44
Ah me! There is so much wrong with this article it's difficult to know where to begin. Knowledge in one... [MORE]	Arthur Dieli	Dec 28, 2006 23:27
McWhorter claims that it's not really so bad that native languages are dying out at a faster rate than at... [MORE]	gary drevitch	Dec 28, 2006 23:16
↔ [w/response by The New York Sun Editors]	Chris B. Behrens	Jan 4, 2007 16:14
↔ ↔ while this might not be a stereotype, it is the sad truth that many natives who have lost their language... [MORE]	pombero	Jan 9, 2007 12:36
↔ ↔ ↔	charles rogers	Feb 14, 2007 17:07
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ "Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find... [MORE]	charles rogers	Feb 14, 2007 17:12
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ As cruel as it may seem, keeping ancient languages alive serves no real purpose other than maintaining a sense of... [MORE]	Crosby Boyd	Dec 28, 2006 22:23
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ I am very proud of my Irish heritage and I know that the Anglo-Saxons committed great crimes against the Irish... [MORE]	Michael Gilleran	Dec 28, 2006 17:38
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ Dear Mr. McWhorter, et al.-- I enjoy your humor; it is good for the soul. And, although I love the sound... [MORE]	Nancy Joyce Jancourtz	Dec 28, 2006 10:24
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ John McWhorter is right. The the previous commenters know this but they don't want this truth out. For what? Racism?... [MORE]	Arthur Mwangi	Jan 1, 2007 13:48
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ I agree with you. The easiest way to have all people speak the same language would be to teach them... [MORE]	pombero	Jan 9, 2007 12:38