We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
THE BASIC LINK
Koestler (1976: 157; see also Safran, 2008) described the descendants of the biblical tribes as ‘the classic example of linguistic adaptability’, in which a strong and continuing sense of group identity outlived repeated shifts in communicative language:
first they spoke Hebrew; in the Babylonian exile, Chaldean; at the time of Jesus, Aramaic; in Alexandria, Greek; in Spain, Arabic, but later Ladino – a Spanish-Hebrew mixture written in Hebrew characters, the Sephardi equivalent of Yiddish; and so it goes on. They preserved their religious identity, but changed languages at their convenience.
This is but a striking example of the lack of a necessary connection between the continuation of a particular, traditional or ancestral language and the maintenance of feelings of ‘groupness’. But this is not to say that, where such a language has been sustained, it is not an obvious and powerful pillar of identity. And, indeed, it is a commonly held assumption, both without and within academia, that it is the pillar, that its presence may not be sufficient but it is certainly necessary. Here is a brief selection of the sorts of sentiments commonly made by language nationalists (see Edwards, 1995; see also Fishman, 1997):
Absolutely nothing is so important for a nation's culture as its language.
(Wilhelm von Humboldt, 1797)Language is the spiritual exhalation of the nation.
(Humboldt again)Has a nation anything more precious than the language of its fathers?
(Johann Gottfried Herder, 1772)A people without a language of its own is only half a nation…to lose your native tongue…is the worst badge of conquest.
(Thomas Davis, 1843)To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
