All Wheel Drive

Recently we bought a car.  We live in Bear Bear City where it snows, so one of the requirements is All Wheel Drive.  We did it for convenience . . no chains to put on and take off.  However, if you didn’t have All Wheel Drive you wouldn’t have the opportunity to experience many of the off-road adventures that are available in Big Bear . . for example, driving in the mountains where there are dangerous animals and bodies of people who tried to go off-roading without All Wheel Drive.

 

This is the same with languages.  We assume that our language is fixed and takes into consideration every possible thing to communicate.   Not so.  I am thinking about the Hopi Indians who don’t have a conjugation for the future.  So, limited planning ability and limited growth potential.  It’s not going to be one of the languages for the future.

 

The challenge with complex languages is that you have to keep it current by introducing new words and expressions so new ideas can proliferate, but you have to keep it enough the same so it can be used by all the peoples who use the language.  How do you do this without having a body (like the Academy Française) who manages it?

 

And, if you manage it, who has the right to say what it should be?  More importantly, aren’t you stifling the creativity of all those who could do something creative with it?

 

Isn’t this also true of governments?

 

Zut alors!