Language and National Identity

[Saga of Gemini]

I belive that language is a very important part of national identity, for example, I feel mad or angry, when in cable tv in chanels that are supoused to be LA ( latin america) mexicans ( my native language is spanish) appear, with theire expressions that arent part of the actual spanish, just mexicans modisms, like "cuate" instead of amigo or "chido" instead of genial or grandioso, those things, infect my venezuelan herritage, as well as he herritage of the other countries of latin america, soon we could adopt those expressions.

Infact I think part of the "Neocolonization" today done by some countries like mexico the US and even japan begins with language, changing expressions, then the cultural background, ( tipical music and folklore in general) until the culture is replaced by the one of the other country.

 

[carlosMM]

Originally posted by stormbind
I don't think language makes much difference to culture.

It may affect psyche though. It has been said the Swedish are cold (as in heartless) and they have a primitive language not unlike that of the Vikings.

German is certainly not the "language of love" and the people are very technical and perfectionist.

In contrast, the French are said to be very romantic (more like mushy than romantic imho) and they have a slurry language.

So maybe our vocabulary or grammar affects our behaviour?

I have rarely read such stereotyping nonsense before. Good thing you say 'supposed'.....


yes, languages differ,a nd leand themselves to didfferent things. German is very suitable for scientific discussions (English is horrible for them), Italian is well suited for singing and so on.

but you can write flowery poems in German, too. So it is more a question of mentality...

 

[Lifeblood]

Originally posted by HuckFinn
If someone has read the Sweden vs. Finland language thread, you'll get an idea of how I feel about this... in the thread, Sideshowbob and and I finally came to some sort of a conclusion that language is an important part of one's identity... and for me in particular, it is the Finnish language that defines me as a Finn. I still don't buy the politically correct bs about a 6% minority's language being somehow important for my identity... it simply is not, and they would have a hard time forcing me to feel that way.

I don't think I really think in any language most of the time... it's faster to be abstract. Sometimes I do lecture to myself about some topic to gain a better understanding of it (and this causes me to speak to myself, which looks weird)... and if it is about computers or programming, it is typically in English because the vocabulary just is more complete there than in Finnish.



Yeah, imagine, there are still these backwood hicks who are stupid enough not to be able to speak the language of real civilization i.e. Swedish...

Your post has traces of a Fenno-Swedish attitude I have never been able to comprehend.. you guys imagine you have some automatic right to have all the rest 95% of the population speaking Swedish to you, and if some people don't happen to have enough "brain power" (that is, are Finnish-speaking), then you, in your grace, just MIGHT agree to exchange a few words in Finnish... it is sickening...

It is an important principle for me to never speak Swedish in my home country... that's what our language struggles have been all about -- the give the language of the overwhelming majority the recognition and rights it deserves. I make a point to always speak Finnish to a Swedish-speaker... why would I do anything else? It is good practice for them and advances my interest as a Finnish-speaker in this country...

Well, I don't care if I'm talking to someone and I hear them speaking Swedish like a ******. I'll switch to Finnish to accomodate them so I can get my point across. Being militant about something trivial like language is BS in my opinion. I don't demand service in Swedish if say I'm visiting a primarily Finnish town where I know they'd be stumped. What do you do if you're stranded in a situation somewhere and have to speak Swedish? Just stand there for hours on end until they dig up some Finnish dude? I mean I don't really give a toss about language or how it might tie in to my identity. I must say I'm perplexed as to why so many Finnish speakers think learning Swedish is some gross injustice of humanity that those monstrous stuck up Fenno-Swedish tossers are burdening them with. One would think learning another language would be counted as a boon and not a burden. Is Swedish really such a horrible language? Is it too homosexual or something? Would speaking Swedish in say Lahti get you roughed up or ridiculed amongst thy Finnish brethren? I mean ffs, it's just another language. It's not about brain-power, it's about an attitude. Not wanting to communicate with a sizeable minority points to stubbordness or bigotry. Very childish attitude IMO.

Just want to point to the fact that 99% of my family is tr00 Finnish traceable all the way back to the stone age so I'm not a *****y Fenno-Swede as you may think. I just happened to have the privilege of having Swedish speaking people marry into the long line of TrueFinns so I'm able to look past the language barrier BS that seems to burden the souls of so many people. I've also narrowly avoided getting beaten up for making the mistake of speaking swedish in the wrong places. These kinda people should move into a damn meatgrinder so they stop wasting precious H20.