Re: What to Call Non-Conlangers

On 5 Mar 2005, at 3.52 pm, Ph. D. wrote:

> Damian Yerrick wrote:
>>
>> Think of the former policies toward Native American languages
>> in the United States, where speaking Injun in school was a
>> punishable offense.
[Sally points out similar happenings in Wales]

> Not limited to the United States. Australian authorities in the
> nineteenth century had the same policy toward indigenous
> languages.
And France at various stages, I believe. And Turkey with Kurdish.
Though not with English, of course. Probably in any country with a
dominant culture and minority cultures where the dominant culture has
different values from the modern Western liberal democracy. I'm sure in
the next era people will be shocked at our values too.

(PS: There were no Australian authorities in the nineteenth century.
Authorities on the continent of Australia were British, or Victorian or
New South Welsh or Queenslanders or South Australian or Western
Australian, and there were also of course the New Zealand and Tasmanian
authorities. [Not that I'm claiming Australia is innocent. Australian
authorities have had similar/related policies in the 20th C. OTOH, I've
never heard of such policies---the impression I've had from history of
that period leads me to be surprised that Aborigines even managed to
find themselves in a school.])

--
Tristan.

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