Why Language Is Humanity’s Greatest Invention @TED @TEDx #shorts #tedxtalks
51,096 views ・ 2023-02-24
Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
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As a job for the past 10 years
and also as recreation, just for fun,
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I create languages.
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You know why languages
die on our planet?
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It's not because government imposes
one language on a smaller group,
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or because an entire group
of speakers is wiped out.
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That certainly has happened in the
past, and it's happening now,
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but it's not the main reason.
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The main reason is that
a child is born to a family
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that speaks a language that is not
widely spoken in their community,
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and that child doesn't learn it.
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Why?
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Because that language is not
valued in their community.
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Maybe if more people are
studying more languages,
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it will lead to more linguistic tolerance
and less linguistic imperialism.
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Maybe if we actually respect
language for what it is --
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literally, the greatest invention
in the history of humankind --
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then in the future,
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we can celebrate endangered
languages as living languages,
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as opposed to museum pieces.
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