elisabeth bauer hett schreven:
2009/1/11 Marcus Buck <me(a)marcusbuck.org>rg>:
In the Arabic world there's a prevalent POV,
that Arabs form one nation
united by the use of the Arabic language. But in reality Standard Arabic
is something like Latin. With the difference, that Latin fell out of use
to make place for the Romance languages. So Egyptian Arabic vs. Standard
Arabic is like French vs. Latin. And the Egyptian VIP is like a 13th
century monk. "Writing in the language of the people. How stupid...
Latin is a godly language."
So, tell me...
Which language do the egyptian newspapers use?
In which language are the egyptian books written?
Which language does Naguib Mahfus use in his books?
Which language do the children learn at school?
Which language do you use in a letter when you apply for a job?
greetings,
elian
The answer to all of this is: Standard Arabic. That's exactly what I was
pointing at. There's a strong non-conscious POV forcing the people to
use a language for writing, that is very different from their native
language. What language do most Mari use, when writing to other Mari?
Russian. Aymara will most likely use Spanish when writing to other
Aymara. Does that mean, that Mari is a dialect of Russian and Aymara a
dialect of Spanish? Of course not. But it's a symptom of a very deeply
internalized feeling of inferiority. A feeling spurred by Russian and
Spanish speakers feeling superiority over those uneducated non Spanish
speakers and non Russian speakers.
A 13th century monk would have argued:
Which language do the Royal chronicles use?
In which language is the Vulgata written?
Which language does Francis of Assisi use in his books?
Which language do the novices learn at monastery school?
Which language do you use in a letter when you petition to the sovereign's court?
The use of Latin restricted knowledge to those who were educated in the
monasteries. The dismissal of Latin was an act of emancipation for the
speakers of the vernaculars. I do not know enough about Arabic to judge
whether pushing the vernaculars would be an act of intellectual
emancipation or an act of divide et impera.
If the idea of writing in the vernacular would be obviously ridiculous,
nobody would do it. There are people who want to work on arz, so they
must see some use in it. Maybe they are still wrong. We can only figure
it out, if we allow them to try.
By the way: You mention schools. When schools became mandatory in the
course of the 18th, 19th century, many people had humanistic and
educational goals. But from the very beginning it was also a tool for
the country's rulers to manipulate the brains of young people. To induce
attachment to the king and to prepare boys to be good soldiers. To make
the children loyal citizens. That's still valid today. Language is one
measure of bending the pupils' mind (of bending all people's minds). By
teaching the national language, that in many cases is different from the
native language, you estalish a direct channel to the mind. This channel
is in the sole occupancy of the authorities and there's no need to share
it with other information transmitters, cause the native environment
uses another language (at least that was true in the time, when schools
became mandatory. Today there are more diverse information channels).
Language is a tool of power. That's the reason, why VIPs are no good
source for opinions about languages not supported by the powers in
force. Somebody who is Very Important has to stay in touch with the
powers in force to keep being important. Touching the balance of power
by supporting languages other than the language of power is dangerous if
you have to keep a status.
The mission of the foundation is an educational one. So it would be
better to ask the uneducated masses of Egypt, whether they feel a gain
from a Wikipedia in their language or whether they stick with the
"Latin" Wikipedia.
Marcus Buck