WATCH MORE GREAT SHOWS AT http://www.channelflip.com/
Welcome to the latest all singing, all dancing episode of David Mitchells Soapbox. (Well, technically without the singing. Or, if were being honest, the dancing.)
In this weeks show, David ponders the relative merits of ancient languages. Should government bodies support the study of languages that are long forgotten? Should Cornish be resurrected at the taxpayers expense? Should Gaelic be on the school syllabus in Scotland?
As ever, please do share your views and get your free subscription over at YouTube.
Duration : 0:4:2
[youtube OvlQXPNwrqo]
I have to disagree …
I have to disagree that “the extinction of an animal is almost never because of natural selection.” Humanity is and always will be a part of nature. If they died because of robots or some such, I could agree, but as is, no.
It is lack of …
It is lack of prestige or more bluntly the IMAGE of vulgarity that causes people to turn their back on their language. This is why Gaelic should be given funding to give Gaidhlig an equal prestige as English. Only then will people start taking up the language once again but the levels of funding are puny. For example in my area (Falkirk) we have absoloutely NO Gaelic provision despite the fact that Gaelic was spoken here as evidenced in place-names. He plays on the Highland-Lowland divide.
In order to keep a …
In order to keep a language alive, the language needs to have some form of prestige. It is ignorant and wrong to assume that the survival of a language is down to whether it is “naturally selected” or not. But then this guy lives in a monoglot English speaking bubble and must not understand that different languages serve the same function, unlike different species of animal or plant. The function of a all languages is communication.
Gaelic is an …
Gaelic is an amazing lanuage and because no one knows it, it feels very private
@SeanOBriain You’re …
@SeanOBriain You’re right. As someone who evidently has not had much experience with the plights and backgrounds of minority languages, he shows total ignorance in suggesting that Gaidhlig was never persecuted & that its survival depends on whether it’s needed, not on good treatment. All languages serve the same function: communication between humans. Languages & accents may have a prestige associated with them (eg Estuary English) or they may be seen as vulgar (eg Gaelic is a perfect example).
@mjay22 Welcome to …
@mjay22 Welcome to the bigotry of Scotland. I suggest this guy actually finds out just how tiny the amount of funding as a % of government spending is in Scotland. Compare this to the benefits: economic in terms of tourism (they love Gaelic culture) not to mention the healthy cultural benefits as a result of being connected to your roots. Kids in bilingual schooling outperform monolingual ones; Gaidhlig aids your learning. The “too much funding” is only a smokescreen to hide their bigoted views.
@trenchfiller He …
@trenchfiller He doesn’t say it but Gaidhlig also suffered long-term repression for centuries when it was seen as the enemy of the state culminating in a time when it was actually illegal to speak for 2 generations in the 1700s. The attitude of the state towards Gaidhlig was that it was a danger; those who spoke it were persecuted for doing so. Gaelic culture was crushed after 1745 followed by mass forced emigration out of Gaidhlig speaking areas, leaving the deserted highlands you see nowadays.
or as they say in …
or as they say in cornwall ‘completely lunatic’ lol
Language is not …
Language is not purely for communication, many learn the Gaelic language to further enjoy the literature and music of the culture. I’m from Wales by the way.
Unfortunately a lot …
Unfortunately a lot of languages die as a result of long term repression as opposed to natural selection… Look at the languages of the native population of America or the Kurdish language in Turkey.
I agree with you on …
I agree with you on the whole. My point was really that a language is important – very important – and I would avidly defend all of them. But they are not worth either dying or killing for. “People who want to preserve one’s language doesn’t necessary forget about the people.” Not NECESSARILY no.. but sometimes yes.
There are so many …
There are so many other videos that you can watch to satisfy yourselves. YouTube serves videos with different topics of discussion and different subjects – that’s why it’s directed to people with different interests and opinions.
@labratbum I’m not …
@labratbum I’m not saying that we should discriminate other races and cultures just because we want to preserve ours. Having pride in one’s culture is nothing wrong if it doesn’t involve persecuting others. We just want others to acknowledge it – that’s all. It’s called cultural tolerance. So, it doesn’t mean that Scotland should be independent from UK. If u find “these sentimental things”, then why did you watch this video and why did you read my comments on this video in the first place?
@missolly1 People …
@missolly1 People who wants to preserve one’s language doesn’t necessary forget about the people. A govt can still make sure that its people have enough food to eat, gets shelter, the kids get to go to school, people get enough medical attention etc. while preserving one’s national language. Just because the Scots want to learn more about their Gaelic language doesn’t mean that they’re going to ignore English as an importance language for their everyday life – especially in the workplace.
@labratbum So, the …
@labratbum So, the point I’m try to make here is about having a distinct personality and wanting to know more about that. Is it wrong to do that? Why did you attacked me instead of Tardiskey’s proverb of “A language is a dialect with an army ” and that that person gets a thumbs up? Is it because mine comes from a Malay proverb?
So, the point I’m …
So, the point I’m try to make here is about having a distinct personality and wanting to know more about that. Is it wrong to do that? You Why do you watch this video in the place and attacked me instead of Tardiskey’s proverb of “A language is a dialect with an army. “? Is it because mine comes from a Malay proverb?
@labratbum Oh okay, …
@labratbum Oh okay, so everything has to be scientifically proven to you now? Even science can’t explain about human feelings. It does matter to a lot of people, regardless of what you say. The main objective of preserving one’s culture is about knowing who we are, not discriminating others. So if if you can’t live with it, it’s too bad then. It’s not up to you to decide what lifestyle they should choose, it’s up them to decide – so long as it’s not in expense of provoking hate against another.
@mjay22 It has no …
@mjay22 It has no proof behind it in the first place. What does ethnic identity matter anyway, eventually nobody will care if you’re white, black, irish or martian.
It really makes no ‘real’ difference to the universe whether the scots lose a part of their culture or not.
I find these sentimental things rather annoying for the very reason that they don’t matter at all.
@labratbum you’re …
@labratbum you’re entitled to your opinion, but opinions differ from one person to another. so, there’ll those who agree and disagree. it seems your lack of rationale behind your criticism shows your poor understanding of the malay proverb. the point i’m making of it is basically a language is part of a nation’s identity – without it we’re losing a big part of our national, or even ethnic, identity. in this case, without scottish gaelic, the scots are losing a big part of their native culture.
@mjay22 What a load …
@mjay22 What a load of crap.
Language is the …
Language is the soul of a nation (Bahasa jiwa bangsa) – Malay Proverb
A language is a …
A language is a dialect with an army.
@chriskp I never …
@chriskp I never said that she was. I’m responding to his assertion that a language will live on it’s own merits. It won’t. It requires support and the opportunity for children to learn it. If it is not supported, it will die off. Personally, I think it would be a shame if it died off. And the end of the day, it’s all subjective.
@SeanOBriain Except …
@SeanOBriain Except English is useful in every British persons daily life, like maths. The Queen isn’t sitting on her throne stroking a corgi laughing as her master plan to wipe out Gaelic comes to fruition. I live in a place where Gaelic very common, a first language for many, and this is the sort of place that Gaelic will have enough relevance to survive (if you ignore the aging population). It’s just as irrelevant in most of Scotland as Scots. Do we have to learn that too?
The most serious …
The most serious rant I’ve seen so far. Not sure I agree that languages die out because of natural selection – just ask the Basques and the Catalans – but I do agree that the death of a language is, in most cases, a pity and not the end of the world. People who get caught up in the politics of language quite often forget about the people, who are essentially the heart and soul of a language anyway.