Re: OT Associated Press covers endangered languages

On Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:37:30 -0400, "X. Rayburn" <none@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070918/ap_on_re_us/endangered_languages
>
>Here is a thought that crosses my mind sometimes: Maybe it would be
>more honorable to use one's linguistic skills to help keep one of these
>endangered languages alive, rather than making up half-baked languages
>that no one will ever speak.

Curious:

Have you _ever_ entered a music oriented newsgroup and similarly
dismissively enjoined piano or clarinet players to "more honourably"
use their musical skills to learn and preserve ancient and fading
musics from around the world? Or else to preserve old musical
instruments? I bet not. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the
thought has crossed your mind even less frequently than berating
conlangers for not taking an interest in preserving living moribund
languages.

Like any other artist out there, most conlangers are not "professional
scholars" of their art. There are musicologists, and there are
performance artists. Different game. There are linguists and there are
linguistic artists (conlangers). Again, different game. Most of us are
not linguistically trained and have only picked up what we know at
second hand. We have neither the wherewithal nor the knowledge nor the
special skillset required to record, preserve and pass on a language.

We could certainly make some effort to _learn_ such a language (for my
part, I am interested in learning Jerriais, but have very few
materials to work with). A different matter altogether!

Padraic

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