Some Languages are not good enough

1. Myth 2
Some Languages are Just Not Good
Enough

2. Languages of the world
• Between 6000-7000 languages.
• 95% of the world’s people speak fewer than 100
of the approximate 6,000 different languages.
• Not all languages have script.
• Classical Languages (limited function) :
– Latin
– Sanskrit
– Classical Greek
• Several languages of the world have less than
10,000 speakers.

3. Widely Used Languages
• In terms of number of speakers
– English (international language of science and
technology, travel, communication, business)
(365,000,000)
– French (72,000,000)
– Spanish (387,000,000)
– Chinese (Mandarin) (935,000,000)
– Hindi (295,000,000)
– Bengali (189,000,000)
– Arabic (280,000,000)

4. Lesser know languages of the world
• Chamicuro (Chamekolo, Chamicolo, Chamicura) spoken
in Peru. (8 people speak this language – 2008 data)
• Dumi, language of Nepal (8 people speak this language
– 2007 data)
• Ongota/Birale (Ethiopia)
• Liki (Moar) (Islands of Indonesia)
• Tanema (Tanima, Tetawo) (Solomon Islands)
• Njerep (Nigeria)
• Chmehuevi (Midwest/Western coast of US)
• Maori (New Zealand)

5. Written Script
• Some languages do not have scripts
• Some languages have alphabetic writing
system
• Some have logographic/pictorial writing
system.
• Some have ‘phonetic’ writing system.

6. Are Some Languages Superior To
Others?
• Until start of 20th century, European linguists were
convinced that Western languages were superior to others.
• Anthropologists have shown that people from
technologically simple societies are not less capable of
expressing a variety of abstract ideas
• Every language on Earth has the ability to express any
thought: even sign languages, even pidgins, even the
seemingly half-baked English creoles in West Africa, the
Caribbean, etc.
• No one language is more efficient at expressing abstract
ideas than others
• Languages were considered ‘culturally’ superior in history
(Latin, French, Sanskrit, Classical Greek, Classical Arabic)

7. Why are some languages not good
enough?
• Reason 1: Language features
– Can’t compound words easily
– Morphologically very complex
– Do not have vocabulary
– Do not have efficient grammatical structure to
express abstract ideas
• tense/aspectual morphemes, singular/plural
morphemes, gender morphemes, word order etc.
– No grammar

8. Why are some languages not good
enough?
• Reason 2 – Some languages are ugly, barbaric,
rude, sound harsh
– Languages are not ugly, or rude – it is a social
judgment of speakers of other people who think
they are better than others.
• Reason 3 – Some languages do not have
vocabulary and logical structure to discuss
‘abstract’ thoughts used in
Science/Art/Literature/music etc.