INTRODUCTION

When we see a person that we don’t know, what do we use to identify him/her? Color? Sex? Nationality? Why is he/she from? Where has he/she been brought up? etc., either of which can help. But what is the most closely related to one’s identity, to me the answer is the language he/she speaks.

In this paper, we will explore Bunge’s thesis entitled “Language: the psyche of a people” where the author made many brilliant points about relationship between language and identity, more specifically, the relationship between speaking aboriginal language and preserving aboriginal culture. I say yes to the majority of the author’s arguments and give comments how I think about those ideas.

Blow is the outline of the essay body:

1, many agree with the author.

2, by giving examples that to get good translation, you have to know both cultures well.

3, Heinrich test showing everything language has its own way of express certain things, there is no such a word in a language does not mean there is no way or no such a concept in this language.

4, Globalization reduces the number of languages that people speak, minority languages fight back, some of them may survive, and some may not.

ESSAY BODY

Take a position either for or against Robert Bunge’s. Where do you stand on the issue of language and identity as discussed in his article? Do you agree or disagree with the statements by Robert Bunge? Why or why not?

In his article, Robert Runge states that “a people who lose their language and the view of the universe expressed by that language can no longer survive as a people, although they can survive as rootless individuals[1].” He is not alone. I am absolutely with him and as well most elders in the native community believe that to be fully considered aboriginal, a person must speak his/her aboriginal language.

Bunge writes, “A nation’s language is a system of thought and expression peculiar to that nation and is the outward express and manifestation of that nation’s view of the universe.” [1] Good point! In my view, one language is the verbal container of one particular culture. When you learn a language, you can’t completely understand the language until you know its culture. When we try to translate one language into another, we know the translation is definitely not one-to-one, many slang in English are based on anecdotes or some historical background while in other languages their slang were derived from different stories or some peculiar cultural stuff also. I will give a very simple example: you can not find the precise corresponding word of translation to the English word “available” in many eastern language in which however you can absolutely find a expression to explain what “available” means. This just an example of word, let alone slang. Let us see another example, an anthropologist called Heinrich[2] once conduct a test in 1972 where he let people in Eskimo of Canadian northwest name the color that Heinrich shows, it turns out that it seems there was not a concept of gray color in their aboriginal language; does this mean the aboriginal people did not see the color? No, absolutely not. What I am trying to say is that language and culture are deeply embedded one another as well as culture and ethnic identity are always closely related. You loss the language, you lose the culture and you are not genuinely who you originally are any more. A study[4] was conduced to analyze the status of Canada's Aboriginal languages. Language use and maintenance between 1981 and 1996 were examined to analyze the viability and possible extinction of a number of languages. Other factors that endanger Aboriginal languages were also considered in the study, including age of speakers and language vitality. Results indicated that a large number of Canada's Aboriginal languages have become extinct or are close to extinction. The country's leaders, teachers and elders are urged to promote measures designed to preserve their indigenous languages.

Runge also writes, “Young people with aspirations for higher education are made to feel they will lose their “Indian-ness” if they go to college, particularly if they leave the reserve. The contrary… I know personally many people who are perfectly at home in both worlds. This way of life is not always easy, but it is possible. [1]” Which I totally could not agree with any more. Learning another language or living in another college does not mean you are losing your own language or identity. Nowadays, millions of easterners have been learning western language, in contrast, more and more westerner’s starts to learn easterners; does this mean they are going to their own identity? The answer is obvious: the reason they learn other language can be one of those that employers think of multilingualism as a skill or knowing more than one language make people feel more comfortable in today’s increasingly clear trends of globalization. However, international economics are indeed changing the number of languages that humans speak. As the world economy becomes more and more integrated, a common language has become more important than ever to promote commerce. The process of globalization, then, does not seem to be producing cultural uniformity; rather it makes us aware of new levels of diversity. The idea of saving languages is not very modern. Some minority languages are still there despite the pressures of globalization. An excellent example of this phenomenon is Quebec, which has shown that smaller languages, given sufficient economic power and policy planning, can resist even the strongest linguistic force on the planet: English. Reserving native language can be in many respects difficult, like Eric Garland states in his article: “Learning or relearning a native language is often a political statement, an act of self-definition, one that brings solidarity with our neighbors. It is political power, cultural reverence, and perhaps a feeling of control in a world where political and cultural borders are collapsing all around us. [3]” to preserve, efforts have to be persisted.

CONCLUSION

Globalization and media are not necessarily the end for local languages, because certain trends in turn support their preservation. While mass media technologies such as TV, radio, and print served to support majority languages, today's computer technology is where it gets tricky. It is considerably less expensive now to produce video and audio in any language, and communications technologies allow you to transmit these media virtually anywhere in the world.

The pressures of globalization on minority languages are undeniable, and many will likely disappear. However, extinction is not a certainty. The trend toward the uniformity of global culture has stimulated many people to search for their native roots and hold tighter to their cultural identity.

REFERENCES

1. Bunge, Robert. “Language: the psyche of a people”, in our languages: our survival, 1987.pp.13-20.

2. Albert Heinrich. “Some Notes on Central Eskimo Color Terminology”, Language and Thought: Anthropological Issues, Eds. W.C. McCormack and Steven A. Wurm, Mouton Publishers, Hague and Paris, 1977, pp.49-50.

3. Eric Garland. “Can minority languages be saved? Globalization vs. culture: the increasing mobility of people, goods, and information has driven a powerful trend toward cultural uniformity and the extinction of local languages. But languages that have young people, business, and government on their side are alive and thriving.”      The Futurist 40.4 (July-August 2006): p31. 

4. Mary Jane Norris.Canada's Aboriginal languages   Canadian Social Trends 51 (Winter 1998): p8 (9).