The Internet offers endangered languages a chance to have a public voice in a way that would not have been possible before.
David CrystalRead
Enshrined in a language is the whole of a community's history and a large part of its cultural identity. The world is a mosaic of visions. To lose even one piece of this mosaic is a loss for all of us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Language embodies a community's identity and history; losing a language means losing part of our shared cultural heritage.
David Crystal's quote emphasizes the profound connection between language, history, and cultural identity. He suggests that language not only serves as a means of communication but also encapsulates the experiences, traditions, and collective memories of a community. The metaphor of the world as a mosaic highlights how every unique language contributes to the overall richness of human experience; thus, losing even a single language diminishes our collective cultural landscape.
Themes
LanguageCultureIdentityHistoryCommunityMosaic
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about cultural preservation, one might say, 'As David Crystal noted, enshrined in a language is the whole of a community's history.'
More from David Crystal
All quotes βThe main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language, providing the language with a new set of communicative dimensions that haven't existed in the past.
David CrystalRead
Bilingualism lets you have your cake and eat it. The new language opens the doors to the best jobs in society; the old language allows you to keep your sense of 'who you are.' It preserves your identity. With two languages, you have the best of both worlds.
David CrystalRead
Language has no independent existence apart from the people who use it. It is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end of understanding who you are and what society is like.
David CrystalRead
Every usage, no matter how bizarre or nonstandard, fascinates me, as it tells me something about the way language is evolving.
David CrystalRead
Likewise, there is no evidence that texting teaches people to spell badly: rather, research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely to be the most literate and the best spellers, because you have to know how to manipulate language.
David CrystalRead
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