LINGUIS R1B Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: The Linguists, Culture Shock
19 Jun 2017
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Document Summary
Language intertwined with way of living: number system, stories, dance. Boarding schools actively forbid children from using indigenous languages. Children from 60 minority groups educated in pure english and hinduism. Killed by russian language as russia exploits the region. Elderly speakers only - youngest speaker 50 y. o. Complicated structure / complex words that act as a sentence. Only one speaker left - talks to himself. Healing practices, describes species unknown to western science. Transmitted from adult to teenagers not babies (during medicine education) People claim to speak but apparently not. Rituals intentionally obscure it so only certain people can understand. Political bureaucracies for fieldwork access to the languages. Lower priority in community (compared to stem, politics) Overrided by more common languages in boarding schools / government. No written system, have to adapt from other language. Moribund languages: only spoken by old people.
