Language makes the man

As LEnin was to have said "You control what people learn, you control what
they do"..

Language can be used for that so well. Sort of like "1984" with Newspeak and
all. If people do not have a term for something, such as rebellion, then how
can the plan it? Create a new word? Maybe it is the conlanger in all of us.
How many little language codes are there. "Pig Latin" and what else? I have
known of atleast one/two others, but I suspect there it more..

Language defines our world, after all if I spell bad, what will you think of
me? If I use non-standard words/phrases/grammatical forms, what will you
think of me?

Sort of like Ebonics, if they want to be happy/comfortable only speaking
Ebonics, then fine, I will get that job they woun't cause they don't speak
standard English, of course I might not get that job cause I don't speak
Ebonics in an ebonics speaking neighborhood.

I live in Alaska, and the kids here even with out all the draconian measure
of the last few centuries, think that thier native tongue is cool, but it
serves no purpose in their young eyes. After all, is MTV in it (their native
language)! No, so they learn how to speak English, though there is some
oddities, and word cross overs..
"I turn the cigarette off".. Also some Accents, really fun..

People want to be comfortable, to know that the person next to them speaks
the same language, goes the same church, and all that. But also we wish to
feel special, so we invent things like special hand shakes, key words and
"pig latin" and like, to disguise things and make us feel
special/different.. Sort of liek gravity and centrifical force..

How do you appreciate something that has been translated from another lingo?
The rythem is off, and more.. I know from listening to Dutch that it and
English are related, but the vocabulary is different, but ...

The French, well, paranoia, and delusions of Grandier is not uncommon
amounsts them, they seem to be as bad as Americans when it comes to "One
Language only" and like.. And people think the Germans are bad when it comes
to remember the days of glory and all, French seem to be worse.. They were
not even a country until c.1400 or so..(grin).
And they are still not.. Prince John loosing the continental possessions of
England was the best thing for the English langauge.

Mike







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