The Race to Save 'Contact Languages'
Unpopular opinion: I never understood this drive to save or revitalize dying languages.<p>People create languages to communicate on an as-needed basis. And languages that aren&#x27;t needed anymore or that are supplanted by other forces fall away.<p>Language is not a finite resource. Language is not equivalent to culture, and even if it were, culture is not a finite resource.<p>I&#x27;ll be thrilled if every language in the world disappears except for one, and we all communicate in it. I don&#x27;t care which one, although ideally it&#x27;ll be a simple or logical one, like Indonesian&#x2F;Malay, with a writing system like Hangul.<p>I wouldn&#x27;t even be bothered if it&#x27;s my own culture disappearing if the upshot is the global efficiency gain of everybody speaking, reading, and writing in ways that everybody else instantly understands, without the need for multi-lingual versions or translation software or human translators.<p>People who want to still do learn latin or Ancient Greek or Sanskrit. And even if they couldn&#x27;t, the trade-off is still worth it times a thousand.<p>What about the mental exercise and developmental benefits of being bilingual? As a multi-lingual person myself, I recognize this. But there&#x27;s no reason your other languages have to be from a particular culture or can&#x27;t be constructed languages.<p>I&#x27;m guessing bilingual English&#x2F;Korean kids or bilingual Spanish&#x2F;Toki-Pona kids get all the same benefits, regardless of the particular language pair.