In my opinion, throughout the generations, because we can communicate using language, we can safely say that we understand that a language is a powerful tool of which keeps a culture together. We may see language as a way to communicate with one another, but it is more than that, it has power. "Language is the perfect instrument of empire." This statement Antonia de Nebrija has presented demonstrates how a language can overrule other languages due to the most dominant language being used in colonization, meaning that the most dominant language spoken will be that particular language, therefore, it is what brings people together like an empire. When Nebrija means by the “perfect instrument” he uses a metaphor to allow the readers to understand that language can be the most sufficient way to bring a colony together. If we were to look at an example, as many of us know, the United Kingdom traveled overseas to many countries that were eventually colonized by the UK. Being said that, the United Kingdom was able to colonize a country, which allowed the language to spread across all the countries that were colonized by the UK. This was because the countries being colonized needed a way to communicate; therefore the dominant language that used to be spoken in that particular countries may have been ‘inherited’ common words from the English Language. Because of the English Language was becoming the most spoken language in the region (through colonisation , citizens who spoken other languages that were significant to the country, were limited to using that language; leading to the depletion of languages.
Hi Jess,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was very insightful and interesting to read. I especially like your introductory statement "we can safely say that we understand that a language is a powerful tool of which keeps a culture together." This perspective was also prominent in the material from the Linguists documentary. Similarly, one Bolivian citizen mentioned that a language is what ties together one's culture and identity. The loss of this can be drastic, to which the Siberian Chulym speak said "I speak to myself, because there's no one else I can talk to.". I also appreciated and agree with your perspective on how the history of linguistic power contributed to the depletion of languages. This leads to my question: To what extent do you believe empires have used language as a tool to manipulate one's culture?
Hey Jess, I agree with much that you have said with me using the same example as you in my own blog post. Colonization has leaded to many countries adopting languages that aren't native and we can tell Nebrija knew this through his quote. He recognized that there was a simpler way of creating an empire rather than the path of destruction, this was the use of discrete suppression. However, do you think the UK knew of this strategy and took advantage of it or did they simply do it unknowingly? They conquered many places as you know but they utilized different tactics, so do you think this could be their main one or were they just trying to educate the public of their culture and suppression was an unknown effective>?
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