de Blij 2 the Legacy of Language

12/2/2012

I don't think you guys realize yet how powerful a tool using this forum can be for you. Take a look at all the action that's taking place on the WHAP chapters. Those people are really improving their understanding by posting, reading and adding to other folk's comments. It's like having a study group, but you don't have to meet at the same time.

The chapter 2 test is looming and you know it won't be easy! Get going NOW on this !

107 Comments

Bingham

12/1/2012 11:14:10 pm

The first questions you should should respond to are, "why does de Blij use the word 'legacy' when naming this chapter?" The second is, "what does de Blij mean by an 'imperial' legacy?"

If I see action on here about that I'll post more guiding questions, and remember, I always catch people who are too lazy to look up the definition of a word in the context it's being used. I'll bet no one is going to forget "disease vector"; you'll be in a college class and a professor will use the term. Your class mates will get a glazed look on their faces while you smugly think, "oh, I've got this, I took Geography at PVA!"

Sam Reid

12/3/2012 09:26:06 am

What does de blij mean by being born into a family whose home language is that of a minority.

Paris Bezanis

12/3/2012 09:28:48 am

I think he is trying to say that being born into a family in which the language spoken is not the language broadly spoken in the environment raised in has major set backs and that this makes that language a "minority" because it isn't the widely spoken one.

Bingham

12/4/2012 07:22:59 am

Good answer Paris.

Paris Bezanis

12/3/2012 09:26:59 am

Mr. Bingham, when De Blij talks of the "imperial legacy" he is referring to the most prevalent of legacies left behind from the imperial era, language, correct? In other words, he's talking about how during the Imperial era in human history, along with culture the colonizers also imprinted their language on whatever people they took over, and this is what remains today, making it a legacy of the imperial period. I believe he uses the term "legacy" in his title to show that language is something that persists through time and is a hall mark of a certain civilization, and how this legacy can be seen anywhere where the language survives.

-Hope I'm on the right track, Paris

Bingham

12/4/2012 07:24:53 am

You have the legacy part right, I'm not sure what you mean by the "imperial era". But it does have to do with empires.

Paris Bezanis

12/4/2012 11:20:31 am

What I was trying to say was the period in time in which empires were spreading around the globe (beginning in the 1400's with the Spanish in the New World and ending after the scramble for Africa and South East Asia was over) I think a textbook I read called it the era of imperialism which is why I called it that

Sam Linda

12/4/2012 11:25:09 am

Since many of today's languages spoken worldwide originated from the Romance languages, I would assume that the imperial era de blij is referring to is the period of time when the Roman Empire was in existence.

Emily Soice

12/5/2012 12:42:06 pm

but language doesn't persist through time, it changes(Yorlish) and becomes extinct?

Marisa Rinchiuso

12/4/2012 07:02:20 am

When De Blij says "people tend to feel passionately about their mother tongue, especially when they have a reason to believe that it is threatened in some ways". When he says, is he just meaning the language going extinct?
Thanks :)

Bingham

12/4/2012 07:20:14 am

Well, yeah, that and that it might be changed in some way... like new words and meanings.

Emily Soice

12/5/2012 12:44:03 pm

protectionism

Bingham

12/4/2012 06:45:23 pm

No, Paris has it. The widely spoken languages are left behind (legacies) of empires. No just latin ones. For example, the version of Chinese spoken by so many people (though not in a geographically wide area) is left over from the Han dynasty (classical Chinese empire) And of course English is Germanic, not Latin. But the British Empire was the most recent and widespread empire. Anyway, you have the right idea.

Emily Soice

12/5/2012 12:52:45 pm

the legacies are the hybrids?

Bingham

12/5/2012 07:26:05 pm

No, the widely spoken languages, most especially English, are the legacies.

Zoe Siytangco

12/7/2012 10:35:54 am

I kind of got the impression that "The Imperial Legacy of Language" meant how does a language maintain control over other people? Was that completely wrong or was I just missing more details?

Bingham

12/8/2012 10:47:10 pm

Zoe, I don't think "control" is the idea you're looking for. The "imperial legacy" has been answered in the posts above.
De Blij does talk about the idea that the way one speaks (language itself, but also grammar an vocabulary) can have a significant impact on economic opportunity. maybe that's the "control" you're thinking about.

Sam Reid

12/4/2012 07:22:19 pm

Thanks

Malia Nellums

12/5/2012 07:07:13 am

When de Blij says that "Multilingualism will be the key to surmounting the power of place" is that the gist or is there more to it?

Bingham

12/5/2012 10:09:43 am

That's the gist and more importantly, the thesis of the chapter.

Emily Soice

12/5/2012 12:48:31 pm

I like to think of language over time like the shape of an hour glass. You have 7,000 languages at the base, then the push by global causes fewer, with regional dominance, and then at the top the hybrid of the global languages and those of the periphery

Laneka McLean

12/5/2012 08:45:40 am

When de Blij talks about "a loss of linguistic diversity" is he talking about how many languages are going instinct or is there more to what he is talking about?

Bingham

12/5/2012 10:16:08 am

Yes and no. Loss of a language is not good in and of itself, but more than that, we lose the ability of some languages to express some part of our humanity. Different languages express certain parts of what we are in our essence better than others. You're heard the cliche, French is the language of love. " Other languages are the languages of other things, like humility, devotion, joy, peace, and so on. Losing a language is losing our ability to express the full range of what it means to be human

Emily Spice

12/5/2012 12:51:20 pm

what especially interested me as a violinist was the example of tone and musicality. Maybe thhat is why asians are so good in music

Emily Soice

12/5/2012 12:53:59 pm

I want to take a guess at the vocab words:
lingua franca
dialect

Bingham

12/5/2012 07:32:51 pm

Be careful about making generalizations, especially those based on ethnicity. It's weak on evidence and potentially hurtful. We can say that people that are musically trained tend to acquire tonal languages more readily than those who don't.

Bingham

12/8/2012 10:48:39 pm

Emily, look harder, that doesn't work as a a definition for "lingua franca".

Emily Soice

12/8/2012 11:21:43 pm

A lingua franca is any language widely used as a means of communication among speakers of different mother languages. A dialect is a version of a language particular to a class, geographic region, etc. I was guessing the words, not the definition

Brana Sanchez

12/6/2012 02:20:32 am

So De Bliji is saying language is an important part of power of place and he's making an arguement to protect the deminishing langues? And the imperial part of the title could be that the main lnguages came from royalty like how english is used by the british royalty for centuries?

Bingham

12/6/2012 06:07:02 am

Briana, be careful when you make a post about spelling, especially your name!
I already answered both your questions in the posts above, so go have a look at those first. If you still have a question, then make a thoughtful post.

Marisa Rinchiuso

12/6/2012 07:35:16 am

Thank you!

Victoria Cashman

12/6/2012 12:10:51 pm

Is language convergence the idea that over time prevalent languages are more widely spoken than minor ones and that minor languages are disappearing because of this?

Bingham

12/9/2012 06:12:12 am

Yes

Victoria Cashman

12/6/2012 12:38:13 pm

What exactly does De Blij mean when he says, "...the sun never sets on the english-speaking world."?

Emily Soice

12/7/2012 12:18:58 pm

He means that right now, English is a widespread language(winning) just as the British empire was when it was huge and spreading to other countries

Sam Molina

12/7/2012 08:23:02 am

I think what De Blij means by saying "the sun never sets on the English-speaking world" is that "the sun never sets" because English, being the leading world language, is being constantly learned more and becoming more widely used than other languages below it. He uses this phrase in the sentence to state that English is not decreasing, but instead increasing and staying as the most spoken world language.

Victoria Cashman

12/9/2012 05:38:52 am

Thanks Sam

Paris Beznis

12/9/2012 07:35:05 am

Actually, when the British used that expression, it meant quite literally the sun never sets because of how the british had colonies all over the world, so that it was always day in one part of the british empire. When de blij says it never sets on the english speaking world, he means literally that there is always some place in the world that english is being spoken and it is day time

Zoe Siytangco

12/7/2012 10:53:40 am

When De Blij says, "Linguists estimate that tens of thousands of such languages may have been born and lost, leaving no trace," how would linguists know that that many languages have existed if they left no trace?
Thank you

Bingham

12/8/2012 04:41:56 am

Don't split hairs, the word "may" tells you it is conjecture.

Zoe Siytangco

12/7/2012 10:53:58 am

Zoe Siytangco

12/7/2012 10:54:16 am

Zoe Siytangco

12/7/2012 10:56:25 am

Sorry, my message was having issues sending, so when I clicked on it again, it sent the same message several times.

Kyana Washington

12/8/2012 03:40:16 am

On page 44 in the last paragraph De Blij begins discussing the tones of Asian and African Languages but I'm confused to what point hew was trying to make. Asian languages with tone are rising in the global linguistic mix but African languages are not. Is he saying that tone is in danger no matter the language's status?

Marisa Rinchiuso

12/8/2012 11:15:11 am

Hey Kyana,
I'm pretty sure what he meant by that is that with all the hybridizations, traditional language is being lost. And tone is a major part of traditional Asian and African languages. He gives the example on 45 that "mi" can mean rice, squint or befuddle, the only way you can tell the difference is by tone. So with a hybrid language such as Chinglish (chinese is a tonal language and english isn't) you suddenly lose the tone in Chinese. Hope this could help!

Bingham

12/8/2012 10:53:28 pm

Maybe this will help Kyana. Consider that Chinese is spoken by a large number of people, however, it is not spoken over a wide geographic area, as is, say English or Spanish. This maybe be partially due to the tonal nature of Chinese, that it requires much more aptitude and long term acculturation to acquire the nuances of tone.

Kyana Washington

12/9/2012 01:19:06 am

Thanks

Leina Betzer

12/8/2012 11:42:43 am

deBlij says that multilingualism will be the key to surmounting the power of place, and if this is true than how is it an advantage to live in the core?Mobals who come from the periphery are sometimes able to pick up languages better than globals in the core.Some countries in the core speak languages that are not widley known...so pertaining to language does living in the core give you any advantage at all?

Bingham

12/8/2012 10:58:52 pm

Great point Leina! I have a couple of answers for you.
Be careful that you think of more than just America when you think of the core. In Switzerland an many other European countries, people speak four or more languages. It's a requirement to graduate from high school! Although, granted, they are mainly languages of the core.
But your point IS well taken, living in the core offers very little linguistic advantage. However, what people in the core have is choice. Given motivation, any one of us in the core could acquire a new language, we just choose not to, as de Blij points out.

Leina Betzer

12/9/2012 06:54:41 am

Thank you!

Emily Soice

12/8/2012 11:29:28 pm

In Languges Global and Local, de Blij seems to be talking about how figures are more global then language because of dialect. Then he starts talking about French assimilation. What point is he trying to make here?

Bingham

12/9/2012 02:55:51 am

Emily, I'm not sure I really understand your question, so I'll wander around that topic a little. Feel free to clarify.
He uses the term "assimilation" in reference to locals joining in, becoming part of the colonial country's culture. The strongest method of this assimilation is language. The assumption was that through language, locals would understand, accept and come to love, the other apects (beyond language) of the colonist's culture - in this case French

Emily Soice

12/9/2012 08:02:41 pm

That makes sense to me, but I was wondering why he had started this point after taling about how figures in writing( chinese letters and European numbers) are more widespread then the spoken languages that use them( Chinese dialects and English, French, German, Dutch, Italian)

Bingham

12/9/2012 03:00:37 am

Take a look at the quote de Blij offers in from The Economist 2004. They make a comparison about how important learning English is to those who wish to compete in the global economy. That would be good to know!

Kathryn King

12/9/2012 10:43:10 am

Mr. Bingham,
I'm not really sure how the quote has anything to do with economics. I think it's saying that knowing English is just another part of life in Central Europe. Was there another quote that had something to do with economics?
Thanks,
Kathryn

Victoria Cashman

12/9/2012 05:02:26 am

In the section heading "The Future Playing Field" De Blij shifts the focus to Japan. Is it because Japan is an example of globalization that counters the notion that all globalized countries have English as their standard language? Or is it something more than just that?

Bingham

12/9/2012 06:23:00 am

Victoria, my take is that you are partly right, de Blij points out Japan as a place that industrialized with out westernizing, at least not as much as other countries. I think he wants us to see that English is just a surface tool in Japan, that like the French, they are guarding their language...they speak English to the degree they need to to be a global competitor, but I'm guessing the bed-time stories are still in Japanese!

More than that, I think he wants you to notice that the British sort of hit the sweet spot in the timing of their empire's diffusion of language. Latin has faded and morphed into other languages, and Japan's late 19th/early 20th century empire was too late to establish global influence. As with comedy, timing is everything.

Allison Elder

12/9/2012 05:37:21 am

In the subchapter Early Diffusion, Later Disputes, are the disputes De Bliji is referring the disputes on Greenburg's language families? Also, will we have to know specifics for the test, such as being able to name all the language groups?

Allison

12/9/2012 06:53:21 am

No, you don't need that much detail. Yikes! I think it's vocabulary that will catch the lazy ones on this test.

And yes, the disputes he refers to are over how many language groups there are, Greenburg's theory.

Bingham

12/9/2012 06:56:43 am

Oops, that's me above, got a little quick on the ole' keyboard :-/

Victoria Cashman

12/9/2012 05:59:14 am

What is the difference between hybrid languages and lingua franca? Can't hybrid languages be considered lingua franca? What I got from the definition is a common tongue used by people of different nationalities to communicate.

Anna White

12/9/2012 06:55:32 am

I think that the difference between the lingua france and a hybrid laguage is that a lingua franca is a predominanty used language of many nationalities, like English is used by many countries, rather than Spanglish which is a hybrid of two languages to make communication easier. Hope this helps!

Anna White

12/9/2012 06:57:45 am

Sorry for the typo!
*lingua franca

Victoria Cashman

12/9/2012 02:13:43 pm

Thanks Anna

Bingham

12/9/2012 06:55:33 am

Right, so a hybrid language is spoken in a localized area such as a large urban area. They don't globalize. De Blij is talking about a lingua franca on a global level.

Laneka McLean

12/9/2012 06:06:43 am

When de Blij quotes or refers to someone, does that count as commentary or facts?

Bingham

12/9/2012 06:58:59 am

In the case of a monograph like this, you have to decide. Chances are, it's commentary, although he may use an expert in some field to bring a concrete detail into the discussion.

Laneka McLean

12/9/2012 06:27:48 am

In the section called " The Changing Template " is the main idea, that although the languages might be the same, they can become completely different by using different tones and hybridization with other languages?

Kathryn King

12/9/2012 07:07:42 am

I also think that de Blij means the youth in a population will also change the language in significant ways. My interpretation of the chapter led me to the thesis "Although the older languages die out because of it, hybrid languages are paving the way for globalization." Not sure if this is correct.

Kathryn King

12/9/2012 07:00:37 am

I have already read the comments above, and I have to clarify two things. The reason de Blij uses imperial in the title is to show that the most widely spoken lang. have come from the empires? And an imperial language is a language that comes from great empires? Thanks!

Bingham

12/9/2012 07:02:19 am

No, did you look up the meaning of the word, "template"? If you do, it will make more sense. English, as the lingua franca, is the new template on which many new hybridized languages are being built.

Kathryn King

12/9/2012 07:10:29 am

Template-something that establishes or serves as a pattern. English is the template that others who speak minority languages are using to create hybrid languages.

Bingham

12/9/2012 07:21:52 am

Yes and yes. :-)

Kathryn King

12/9/2012 07:24:57 am

In the very first sentence, is de Blij saying that language holds together society? An essence is the properties or means of which something may be classified or identified. Epoxy is an adhesive or glue. Since language helps identify culture and culture holds together society, does language contribute to the holding together of society?

Paris Bezanis

12/9/2012 07:41:54 am

I think the answer would be yes. A society functions because people can talk to one another, it would be a lot harder to get along if we couldn't understand each other!

Bingham

12/9/2012 09:00:08 am

Why yes.

Andrew Han

12/9/2012 08:14:20 am

The first sentence of chapter 2, is it saying that Language is basically culture and culture is what makes a society?

Sam Linda

12/9/2012 08:27:09 am

I don't think you want to jump to the generalization that language is basically culture. There are many factors that play into culture including religion, social organization, arts, government, etc. Culture holds together a society and language is an element of culture. Therefore, language contributes to holding together a society along with other aspects of culture.

Bingham

12/9/2012 09:01:20 am

Great answer Sam.

Andrew Han

12/9/2012 08:33:00 am

Ok that makes sense then by saying it is the "essence" does it have more "value" per say within culture?

Sam Linda

12/9/2012 08:41:15 am

If you look at the first sentence it states that language holds together culture. So, sure.

Sam Linda

12/9/2012 08:41:58 am

First sentence in chapter three.

Anna

12/9/2012 08:39:25 am

Sam is just saying language is really important in a culture. Like, if I'm from France, my language is something I hold dear. I think it holds a lot of value, but not all or nothing....

Andrew Han

12/9/2012 08:41:09 am

Ok thank you both

Paris Bezanis

12/9/2012 08:52:32 am

When de Blij talks about the homogenization of language and how we will loose a lot of cultural attributes, is he suggesting that with one language we may morph into one culture?

Bingham

12/9/2012 09:04:25 am

Yes, that and that we loose the nuances of language, we think by means of language. The fewer linguistic options we have, the more limited our thinking.

Paris Bezanis

12/9/2012 09:15:41 am

So if we loose a language, we will no longer perceive things the way that particular culture may?

Kathryn King

12/9/2012 09:17:02 am

Can someone please clarify what the historical geography of language is? The idea that I currently have floating around in my head is that it is referring to the modern languages descent from extinct ones.

Anna White

12/9/2012 10:34:37 am

I got the same thing you did, so I think you're right. I just also had the empires they descended from as well, like how the romance languages are descended from Latin of the Roman empire.

Kathryn King

12/9/2012 10:44:17 am

OK, Thanks!

Emma Lyon

12/9/2012 09:36:22 am

I read the comments above, but I just want to make sure I have this idea right. So, "Imperial Legacy" is talking about the global languages that were around in history, and the mark they made in the language world. Also, the languages that left a legacy were the ones that survived in big empires...the old time languages that would be the equivalent of English today?

Kathryn King

12/9/2012 10:00:00 am

Simply put, an imperial language is one that comes from a great empire. de Blij uses imperial in the title to show that the most spoken languages (lingua franca) derived from the great empires. :)

King

12/9/2012 10:34:45 am

Also, when de Blij says, "language confers advantage and imposes liability," is he just saying that what language you speak can help you or make life harder for you?

Anna White

12/9/2012 10:44:32 am

Yes, when your language is the lingua franca you have one up on the rest of the world, however, when you speak a dialect of India, you have to work harder to make up for that.

Clara Foster

12/9/2012 10:50:02 am

That sentence in my words: Language gives advantages and forces responsibility.
I think it is saying that language gives advantages that come with responsibility to maintain those advantages.

Anna White

12/9/2012 10:57:32 am

Clara, why maintain and not spread? I don't think you're wrong, I just wanted to know what you're thinking was.

Shayla Nidever

12/9/2012 10:44:04 am

When De Blij is talking about how there are hybridizations between languages, can it only be between 2? And, does it technically have to be the mixing of 2 languages, or could it be the slight tweeking of one because of society or technology and such?

Anna Howard

12/9/2012 10:48:31 am

No, Shaaayla, de Blij means that when one is learning a language, they're gonna come up with slang as a mixture of multiple languages

Shayla Nidever

12/9/2012 10:51:11 am

So its only between two languages?
Thanks Annaaaaa.

Anna Howard

12/9/2012 10:56:09 am

No, it can be between as many as the person speaks. Like, my violin teacher's son speaks Romanian, Spanish, and English and they just sit there and talk in a mixture of them.

King

12/9/2012 11:04:38 am

Mr. Bingham said to look at the quote in the Economist in 2004, but I can't figure out why. He said that there was a relationship between knowing English and competing in the economy, but I can't find the sentence that proves that. HELP!!!

Shayla Nidever

12/9/2012 11:25:31 am

Kathryn! I may be totally off here, but what I think De Blij is trying to say is that how well you talk a language, for example, helps you climb up the "global ladder".

An example Mr. Bingham gave us in class was that if a guy went into Apple and had something to sell, but started talking with a thick texan accent or using words like "yall" and such, they wouldnt take him seriously.
As in that quote, if you really want to get somewhere you have to speak the "global" language. In this case, its as important as "driving a car" Hope i helped a bit.

King

12/9/2012 11:46:19 am

Thank you so much! That makes perfect sense now.

Bingham

12/9/2012 06:41:43 pm

It's a quote FROM the Economist. It compares the ability to speak English with the ability to drive a car, ect. In other words nessisary.

Anonymous

12/9/2012 11:14:47 am

Woo! 100th comment!

rachel russell

12/9/2012 11:53:54 am

wow! that really helped!

Paris Bezanis

12/9/2012 08:38:29 pm

deep. When de Blij is talking about how a lot of han Chinese can't even speak there own language, or the pu tong han yu, (the northern one) what was he trying to prove, how languages change depending on location, or that that is a reason why chinese isn't a global language yet?

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de Blij 2 the Legacy of Language

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