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LINGUIST List 17.177

Wed Jan 18 2006

Disc: Re: 17.100, Disc: Prestige & Language Maintenance

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        1.    Stan Anonby, Re: 17.100, Disc: Prestige & Language Maintenance
Message 1: Re: 17.100, Disc: Prestige & Language Maintenance
Date: 18-Jan-2006
From: Stan Anonby <">sil.org>>
Subject: Re: 17.100, Disc: Prestige & Language Maintenance


I think Cosper's insights are correct. I have observed that people learn
languages that are higher up on the hierarchy.

Maybe we could try the analogy of wind. The dominant languages in the Americas
are like funnel clouds compared to the breezes that are the minority languages.
On other continents, the winds of languages are closer to the same strength. In
the Old World, prestige could add enough strength to make a real difference in
language maintenance.

Stan Anonby


Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics

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