1. Deledda International SchoolLanguage loss andcultural consequences Alessandra GiglioTOK Seminar, 25 January 2013

2. Deledda International School How does this seminar work First half: Prof. Giglio will talk about thephenomenon of the death of languages andwhich is its direct cultural consecuence Second half: the students will be divided intotwo groups, depending on the language theyare studying (or studied until 10 grade) andwill meet M.me Goalard and Prof. Sanchez,that will speak about what has been lost andchanged in French and Spanish 2 3. Deledda International School7 billion of people How many languages do we have?3 4. Deledda International School 4 5. Deledda International School 5 6. Deledda International School 6 7. Deledda International School Why? Because of the supremacy of Lingua Franca. (English, in this particular moment; French, inthe past; Spanish, even before, ) 7 8. Deledda International School Essa non poteva essere la lingua di una cultura, e noi apprezziamo il favore che padre Goudon fece loro quando decise di tornare ad insegnare loro il francese nel 1860. Questa iniziativa li mise in condizione di entrare in contatto con lalta cultura dellOccidenteStorico francese in Nuova Caledonia8 9. Deledda International School Have you ever heard of biodiversity?9 10. Deledda International School So, whats the point here??! Not a big deal if we loose languages: we will communicate betterin the future, thats it. No, its not.10 11. Deledda International School Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose100% sure?!?G. Stein on Shakespeares inspiration Inuit people have a lot of words to express allthe concepts related to snow/ice11 12. snowstorm pirsuq/pirsirsursuaqDeledda International School large ice floe iluitsuq sea-ice siku (in plural = drift ice) snowdrift apusiniq pack-ice/large expanses of ice in motion ice floe puttaaq sikursuit, pl. (compacted drift ice/ice field = sikut hummocked ice/pressure ridges in pack ice iqimaniri)maniillat/ingunirit, pl. new ice sikuliaq/sikurlaaq (solid ice cover = nutaaq) drifting lump of ice kassuq (dirty lump of glacier-calved thin ice sikuaq (in plural = thin ice floes)ice = anarluk) rotten (melting) ice floe sikurluk ice-foot (left adhering to shore) qaannuq icicle kusugaq iceberg iluliaq (ilulisap itsirnga = part of iceberg opening in sea ice imarnirsaq/ammaniq (open water below waterline) amidst ice = imaviaq) (piece of) fresh-water ice nilak lead (navigable fissure) in sea ice quppaq lumps of ice stranded on the beach issinnirit, pl. rotten snow/slush on sea qinuq glacier (also ice forming on objects) sirmiq wet snow falling imalik (sirmirsuaq = inland ice) rotten ice with streams forming aakkarniq snow blown in (e.g. doorway) sullarniq snow patch (on mountain, etc.) aputitaq rime/hoar-frost qaqurnak/kanirniq/kaniq wet snow on top of ice putsinniq/puvvinniq frost (on inner surface of e.g. window) iluq smooth stretch of ice manirak (stretch of snow-free ice icy mist pujurak/pujuq kanirnartuq= quasaliaq) hail nataqqurnat lump of old ice frozen into new ice tuaq snow (on ground) aput (aput sisurtuq = avalanche) new ice formed in crack in old ice nutarniq bits of floating ice naggutit, pl. slush (on ground) aput masannartuq hard snow mangiggal/mangikaajaaq snow in air/falling qaniit (qanik = snowflake) small ice floe (not large enough to stand on) masaaraq air thick with snow nittaalaq (nittaallat, pl. = ice swelling over partially frozen river, etc. from water snowflakes; nittaalaq nalliuttiqattaartuq = flurries) seeping up to the surface siirsinniq hard grains of snow nittaalaaqqat, pl. piled-up ice-floes frozen together tiggunnirit feathery clumps of falling snow qanipalaat mountain peak sticking up through inland ice nunataq new fallen snow apirlaat calved ice (from end of glacier) uukkarnit snow crust pukak edge of the (sea) ice sinaaq12 13. Deledda International School Even if Stephen Pinker says this is notreally true But this is not the point: you invent the words to express [the world around you] S. Pinkerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ljEBkCeMQ 13/23 14. Deledda International School Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose100% sure?!? C una trib dellAmazzonia che usa 16parole distinte per dire verde, mostrandogrande attenzione per la realt circostante: lanostra societ occidentale invece guarda piallo specchio che alla finestra.Niccol Fabi14 15. Deledda International SchoolLets take the concept of colours15 16. Deledda International SchoolSix thinking hats theory (De Bono) 16 17. Deledda International School sure that is negative?? 17 18. http://www.internazionale.it/opinioni/lee-marshall/2012/08/21/nel-blu-dipinto-di-azzurro/Deledda International School How to translate colours? [] andate a cercare licona di Twitter che sta laggi da qualche parte. Luccellino di che colore ? Non pensateci troppo: vi chiedo di nominare il colore non come adulti che hanno studiato la gamma pantone, ma come dei bambini, usando una delle dodici parole base per i colori che esistono in italiano. Per me, sia il colore di sfondo della testata [della rivista Internazionale, nda] sia luccellino di Twitter sono blue. Il primo sicuramente un dark blue, con un tocco di cobalt o indigo. Il secondo, luccellino, si avvicina a un light blue, pur essendo un light blue piuttosto dark: in realt, quasi un medium blue. Non so se vi ricordate (la nostra memoria informatica notoriamente corta), ma fino a giugno di questanno luccellino Twitter era ben pi light, e aveva anche un ciuffo in testa. Comunque, il concetto questo: per un inglese come me, light blue, medium blue e dark blue sono gradazioni di un solo colore. In italiano ci sono due modi di tradurre linglese blue non qualificato da altro aggettivo: blu e azzurro. Lasciamo da parte il celeste, che sarebbe sempre tradotto in inglese con un blue accompagnato da qualche notazione: light blue, sky blue, eccetera. Potrei sbagliarmi, ma scommetto che per voi il colore dello sfondo della testata Internazionale blu, mentre luccellino di Twitter azzurro. Ditemi se sbaglio.18 19. Deledda International School First we express, then we thinkor The language or the culture goes first?First we think, then we express? 19 20. Deledda International SchoolIs a rose a rose a rose? Does all of this mean that language influences worlds perception? Or viceversa?The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. L. Wittgenstein20 21. Deledda International School LAD Noam Chomsky (1960) claims that we have aLanguage Acquisition Device in define Therefore, we dont our brain. It is acognitive, innate instinct that allow us to learn a anything.language.The world (and the A child basically has all the potential structures of language!) is already setall the languages incannot interfere he selects and we his brain; however,and uses only the structures that he hears. with that. In this way, we learn the only language we areexposed to. 21/23 22. Deledda International School Do different languages give us a differentknowledge of the world? Do you know differently in the differentlanguage you know? Do we need to understand a culture, in orderto understand a language? Why do we have some concepts that seemuniversal? 22 23. Deledda International School A really good add-on on thishttp://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures.html23 24. Deledda International School Further materials http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_ryan_ideas_in_all_languages_not_just_english.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ljEBkCeMQ D. Nettle, S. Romaine, Voci nel silenzio,Carocci, 2000, Roma 24 25. Deledda International School Referenceshttp://infographiclabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/complex_world_langua ge_families-600x2480.jpghttp://www.transparent.com/language-resources/infographic-speaking-of-languag es.jpghttp://webmarketing.toweb.co/significato-colori-infografica/http://blog.focus.it/graphic-news/2012/02/21/il-significato-dei-colori-nel-mondo/http://affreschidigitali.blogosfere.it/galleria/2010/10/i-colori-piu-popolari-del-201 0-e-il-loro-significato-quando-il-colore-rappresenta-il-mondo.html/2http://lizneale.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/32_large.jpghttp://www.docstoc.com/docs/123680090/Linking-TOK-to-Language-Bhttp://www.wikipedia.comhttp://www.dr-fdtc.com/cultural-differences/cd/ch3-03a.htmlhttp://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/eskimo-words-for-snow/http://www.internazionale.it/opinioni/lee-marshall/2012/08/21/nel-blu-dipinto-di -azzurro/D. Nettle, S. Romaine, Voci nel silenzio, Carocci, 2000, RomaM. Pagel, Un mondo di parole, Internazionale, n. 983 anno 20D. McCandless, Information Is Beautiful, Rizzoli, 2011, Milano 25