Re: Genders (was Re: Láadan and woman's speak_

John Cowan wrote:

> Robert Hailman scripsit:
>
> > Technologically advanced civilization begins to expand rapildy. Conquers
> > areas that don't speak the language. Unable to integrate conquered areas
> > into official language. No common language evolves, so the government
> > decides to make one for government purposes, such as regional branches
> > of government in areas with a non-official language majority. Soon the
> > language is taught in schools. When a generation of people bilinguial in
> > whatever language and this new language begin to run businesses and
> > travel about the country, they find it is easier to communicate with
> > business parters and local people in places they travel to, and begin to
> > use it at home, since everyone there knows it as well. The next
> > generation is brought up in a world where this new language is common
> > place, and learn it. Eventually it becomes more common as a first
> > language than the original regional languages. After a long time, the
> > regional languages are lost. Bingo! Auxlang as a monther tounge.  Of
> > course, this requires incredible government backing of the new language.
> > Also, it could take a long time between creation of language and the
> > teaching of it in school.
>
> You forgot the last step:  "Empire falls.  Common tongue breaks up into
> local varieties which eventually become separate languages with distinct
> written and spoken conventions."
>
> Otherwise, you are basically describing the Roman Empire.
Well... kinda.  The Roman Empire didn't even *try* to impose Latin on
the native population (which is one reason why the Romans stuck around
for as long as they did -- they were quite pragmatic about such things).
"Government" at that time bore little resemblance to modern government --
the "official language" of the Empire was nominally Latin, but the bureacracy,
what little there was of it, was based on the local language for all but the most
pressing of issues.  The real reason the Western Empire adopted Latin as the
de facto interlanguage was because of the military coloniae:  exsoldiers in the
armies, who were required to know Latin, were planted in various parts of the
empire as part of their retirement plans, and in the West (Gaul, Spain, Northern
Africa, Britain) that these coloniae formed the basis of a embryonic urban
civilization.  The East had been citified for centuries, but cities were a relatively
new phenomenon in the West.  It is only in this context that Robert's comments
hold true:  only *after* there was a large native speaking population of Latin-
speakers did commercial and governmental policies begin to sway the locals
into accepting Latin for daily use.  Necessity was the reason, not government
mandate.

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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
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