Re: CHAT: t-shirt

On Thu, 28 Sep 2000, Irina Rempt wrote:

> ilaini          vil.es.iyt        must.ay      ilanea         cost.ay
> languages-nom-p perish.INC.FUT-3p fight.IMP-s  language-acc-s create.IMP-s
>
> that is, the total destruction of languages. Nicole, and anyone
> listening in, which do you prefer? _runa_ doesn't imply an outside
> agency (it's a natural process), and _vila_ does, though the agency
> can be internal (something destroying itself); _runa_ leaves
> something behind (like a dead body) and _vila_ not necessarily.
<person listening in raising a hand>  I like vila better.  Surely the
extinction of languages, whether through natural or unnatural processes,
is a sad thing to be fought?  Or that's my philosophical gloss on it.

Yoon Ha Lee, random listener-inner