Science and Language

Thus far in class we've talked about how losing a language also means losing much of the culture attached to it. Many of the articles I've come across several articles that try to emphasize the importance of bringing back these languages. My previous post is one example of one effort to bring back language and culture. There is a similar struggle in Dimapur to restore Naga languages. These reconstruction efforts focus specifically on the fear of losing culture to a new wave of modernity that emphasizes more widespread languages like English.


An article I read in the University World News addresses the lose of african languages in a different manner. It points out that the development of science exacerbates the decline of many african languages for one basic reason: these languages lack a word for science. The lack of words obviously is a major barrier, however, that leads to a bigger problem. Due to the lack of language, the basic concepts of science are also missing. This poses a challenge to many scientists trying to research anything from agriculture to medicine and significantly devalues these languages in the sense being a progressive language and society.


One solution would be to teach speakers of these languages English then introduce the concepts of different sciences. People have followed this track but these bilinguals are in the minority in a culture that resists the overwhelming influences of English. The article elaborates that "In Southern Africa science remains a minority, English-language based pursuit that reinforces the domination of English at the expense of local languages such as Ndebele, Swahili and many others." This presents the fine line between trying to spread knowledge through science and invading another language and consequently the culture attached to it. At the same time the knowledge of the land that these people hold could also be useful in many other parts of Africa but this language barrier makes it very difficult to transfer these secrets. So what happens when these languages die out taking hundreds of years of history of the land with it?


Scientist are making the effort to lessen the language barrier through several methods. Most basically, there are dictionaries being complied that try to literally communicate different scientific concepts. However, this will only be effective for the people who already want to study English and science specifically. Those people will still be in the majority. Another method outlined in the article consists of having three different kinds of interpreters, each serving a different function. Basically there are integrators, filters and synthesizers (for more information please look at the linked article). These people serve important function but also create a rather lengthy chain of communication. It also costs more money to train three different categories of translators. This presents a large problem in the poorer African countries. While this method definitely has many benefits and allows some scientific knowledge to be passed on, another more effective route needs to be established. I personally don't have a solution for this conundrum. I would postulate, however, that a shift toward science would need to start with a young generation. If and when a complete dictionary of basic scientific ideas is finished, it would be easiest to begin spreading these ideas through the younger school aged generation in their own language. Hopefully this would, in a generation's time, allow scientific thought to flow freely while preserving the native languages.