Thanks, Bill. I spent nearly a month in Jamaica working for Help the Aged in 1999. If you want my impressions, I kept a diary, which I put on my website at http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/jamaica.htm .
Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: "William B Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2003 7:02 PM Subject: Re: [Futurework] Chinese as the world language? was: Re: [Futurework] Languages (fwd) > Ed, > > I have spent a lot of time in St. Elizabeth Parish in Jamaica and have > become accustomed to speaking with rural Jamaicans but when two rural > Jamaicans shift completely into Patawa [Patois], although it is English I > am hard pressed to follow. This is similar to a time when I was ordering > tickets at a counter in London. The guy who spoke perfect English [not > American], picked up the phone and switched into Cockney and I didn't get > anything. > > Bill > > On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 09:38:51 -0400 "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > Keith: > > > > > I'm sure you must be right. However, Quebecian French will die in > > the end > > > if Quebec wants to stay in the mainstream of the developed world. > > When is > > > another matter. It's interesting that the French Academy have > > given up > > > their long-time attempts to exclude American and English word > > imports. > > > Almost all middle class Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Dutch and > > > what-have-you can speak fairly fluent English because that's the > > language > > > of modern commerce and science. Almost no middle class Englishmen > > could > > put > > > more than a sentence or two together in another language. Once > > upon a time > > > I used to be able to read Simenon and Pushkin in their own > > languages > > fairly > > > comfortably -- and enjoyably, too -- but I could never speak the > > languages. > > > > One has to appreciate that there is a difference between street > > French and > > the French spoken by the educated. My understanding is that the > > latter > > speak French, as in France, with perhaps some minor differences. My > > neice's > > daughter, who attends the French language University of Montreal, is > > off to > > the Sorbonne next year. She's already done some of her studies in > > France > > and has encountered no problems. > > > > It's interesting how languages evolve. When I was in Jamaica a few > > years > > ago, I had to go way back into the hill country to talk to some > > elderly > > people who had lived there all their lives. Though they spoke > > English, I > > could barely understand them. Another generation or so of > > isolation, and I > > might not be able to. > > > > Ed Weick > > > > > > > > > > > At 10:39 22/08/2003 -0400, Ed Weick wrote: > > > >(KH) > > > >But surely, Prof Daniel Abrams' thesis is *not* valid. He is > > trying to > > > >maintain that minority languages can be protected. I originally > > wrote > > > >that this is not possible. PW, EW and I have each been saying > > that once a > > > >new way of life becomes communicable, tradable and geographically > > > >possible, then minority languages disappear. Prof Abrams would do > > better > > > >to spend his time and research money in recording as many > > minority > > > >languages as possible for future study and analysis, than trying > > to save > > > >them in the here and now while our present type of economic > > system is > > > >still sweeping the world. > > > > > > (EW) > > > >Much would seem to depend on the size, status and power of the > > linguistic > > > >group. There is no doubt in my mind that Quebec will maintain > > French and > > > >do its governing and business in French in the foreseeable > > future. The > > people > > > >it will deal with in Ottawa will have to be able to use French. > > > > > > I'm sure you must be right. However, Quebecian French will die in > > the end > > > if Quebec wants to stay in the mainstream of the developed world. > > When is > > > another matter. It's interesting that the French Academy have > > given up > > > their long-time attempts to exclude American and English word > > imports. > > > Almost all middle class Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Dutch and > > > what-have-you can speak fairly fluent English because that's the > > language > > > of modern commerce and science. Almost no middle class Englishmen > > could > > put > > > more than a sentence or two together in another language. Once > > upon a time > > > I used to be able to read Simenon and Pushkin in their own > > languages > > fairly > > > comfortably -- and enjoyably, too -- but I could never speak the > > languages. > > > > > > Although I think that English is a strong candidate as a world > > language, I > > > wouldn't bet on it. Chinese is a much stronger candidate in the > > longer > > > term. It is basically easier to learn than most others. It has > > lost all > > the > > > appendages that other languages still have -- conjugations, > > declensions, > > > irregular verbs, subjunctives, ablatives, and so on -- nightmares > > that > > > plagues learners of most other languages. Chinese has also lost > > > inflections, cases, persons, genders, degrees, tenses, voices, > > moods, > > > affixes, infinitives, participles, gerunds and articles. It lost > > all these > > > in the course of several thousand years of a largely unified > > culture and > > > literature. There are no words of more than one syllable and > > every word > > > has only one form. It proceeds by means of subject and predicate > > -- that's > > > all -- and explicates by means of metaphors. Thousands of them. > > Tens of > > > thousands of them. More poetry has been written in Chinese than in > > any > > > other language. > > > > > > Chinese is just about the most finely chiselled language in the > > world -- > > > the most fully developed. And when China gets to the forefront > > in > > science, > > > technology and commerce I think it will probably whop the confused > > and > > > convoluted language that we call English (much as I love it). > > > > > > Keith Hudson > > > > > > > > > Keith Hudson, 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath, England, > > > <www.evolutionary-economics.org> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Futurework mailing list > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Futurework mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! > Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
