Language Is a Political Matter

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The ancient Greeks famously classified any people who do not speak Greek as "barbarians."

The people of Ireland call the language spoken there before English became widespread "Irish," while the English referred to it as "Gaelic."

Calabrians and Sicilians are told not that they speak their own languages, but that their Italian is very bad.

The same sort of dynamics are now playing out in China, vis-à-vis Cantonese.

Comments

  1. Bobybuilder11:57 PM

    Bad grammar possible is, people speak write clumsy errors make is absurd not.

    Evidence groups language correct speak enforcement is of errors even by children. Grammar errohttp://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/02/07/police-teen-faces-child-porn-charges-for-tweeting-nude-photos-of-self/#.UvZP5nGcDmg.twitterr notion valid is.

    Italian Tuscan by fiat declared. Sicilian bad Tuscan can be. Next time Petrarch Dante Syracusans make, then bad Italian Florentine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gcallah11:59 PM

      Clear not am I what you are saying is.

      Delete
  2. Bobybuilder1:11 AM

    Partly agreeing, but not 100%, mindful of your previous post denying an idiotic councilwoman could be grammatically challenged because she's black. What's true of linguistic groups need not be true of each member.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Current9:34 AM

    The English calling Irish "Gaelic" is mostly because they don't understand that the Scots, Irish and Welsh forms of Gaelic are very different, and not mutually comprehensible. The Irish call their language "Irish" or "Gailge" to emphasis that it is different.

    The whole thing about labelling the Irish as "Celts" has a wierd history. Sometimes the English did it to mark them out as different, at other times the Irish named themselves that way to take on the history associated with the culture. "Celtic" or "Celt" is one of the most complicated political words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gcallah9:57 AM

      Apparently the English don't even understand that Welsh is not Gaelic at all!

      Delete

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