Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.
George SteinerRead
The Hebrew language will go from the synagogue to the house of study, and from the house of study to the school, and from the school it will come into the home and... become a living language
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the journey of the Hebrew language as it transitions from religious and academic settings into everyday use in the home.
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda illustrates the evolution of the Hebrew language from its religious roots to becoming an integral part of daily life. This process signifies not only the revival of a language but also its importance in fostering identity and culture, showing how language can transition from traditional spaces to become a vibrant component of everyday communication and life.
In practice
During a lecture on the importance of cultural revival, this quote can be used to highlight how languages shape communities.
Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.
Those who sniff decay in every shift of sense or alteration of usage do the language no service. Too often for such people the notion of good English has less to do with expressing ideas clearly than with making words conform to some arbitrary pattern.
The living language is like a cowpath: it is the creation of the cows themselves, who, having created it, follow it or depart from it according to their whims or their needs. From daily use, the path undergoes change. A cow is under no obligation to stay
The language itself, whether you speak it or not, whether you love it or hate it, is like some bewitchment or seduction from the past, drifting across the country down the centuries, subtly affecting the nations sensibilities even when its meaning is forgotten.
I'm about as monolingual as you come, but nevertheless, I have a variety of different languages at my command, different styles, different ways of talking, which do involve different parameter settings.
Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground
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