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Why does Linguistic Imperialism Even Matter?

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Why does Linguistic Imperialism Even Matter?

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Imperial Linguistics are, to us, mostly seen in how English has become a pervasive, omnipresent language seen in almost every country around the world. People who speak fluent English are seen as smarter, more civilized, and better hires, compared to people who speak broken English, or even worse, don't speak the language at all. How many people are barred from employment or education because of what is oftentimes an arbitrary language barrier?

A particularly relevant example of Imperial Linguistics is shown prominently in Canada - the province of Quebec. The animosity between French and English speakers in Canada has been an ever-present rift for centuries, and despite our best efforts at learning the others language, the rift still remains. Is a bilingual solution still possible? Or have the divides caused by imperialism and imperial linguistics grown too deep?

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In English, we mostly call snow "snow". But the Eskimo have many different words for it. If the Eskimo language was ever forgotten, we would also lose those simple ways of describing snow.

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The belief that the Inuit have dozens of different words for snow has become a widely known piece of linguistic trivia. Where did this belief come from and how close is it to the truth?
Where did the 'Eskimo snow myth' come from?

At some point, you'll have heard the "50 words for snow" cliché. Whether it's a meme about language and culture or a critically acclaimed album by Kate Bush, it's a widespread concept. The phenomenon is called "snowclone".

The myth can be traced back to anthropologist, Franz Boas. He studied life of the local Inuit people of Baffin Island, Canada in the late 1800s as part of his postgraduate geography studies.

Boas was particularly interested in how the outside world influences the culture of different geographical locations.

He simply went to study and experience the local Inuit way of life and often boasted in his letters about how much seal meat he was eating.

The moment that sparked this bit of cultural storytelling was when he remarked on the many terms they had for snow.

This is now named by skeptics 'the great Eskimo vocabulary hoax'.

Is the 50 words for snow myth completely false?

Behind many myths is a grain of truth. However, the latest studies show that Boas was, actually, correct.

The problem with generalizing the phenomenon as an Inuit language feature is where the skepticism is rooted.

This is because there is more than one Inuit language - it is only one group of languages in a wider family called Eskimo-Aleut.

The reason this language family has so many words for snow is that of polysynthesis.

Polysynthesis means that there is a base word attached to many different suffixes which change the meaning.

So, where in the English language we might have a sentence describing snow, fusional languages such as the Eskimo-Aleut family will have long, complex words.

Because of this, they likely don't only have 50 words for snow - they'll have hundreds of ways to describe it.

Here are just some Eskimo-Aleut snow lexemes:

qanuk: 'snowflake'

kaneq: 'frost'

kanevvluk: 'fine snow'

qanikcaq: 'snow on ground'

muruaneq: 'soft deep snow'

nutaryuk: 'fresh snow'

pirta: 'blizzard'

qengaruk: 'snow bank'

Hopefully, you're feeling inspired by this descriptive variety. Want to know how we can help you make your writing more engaging? Check out our features.

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Do Inuits really have 50 words for snow? - Readable

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The belief that the Inuit have dozens of different words for snow has become a widely known piece of linguistic trivia. Where did this belief come from and how close is it to the truth? At some point, you'll have heard the "50 words for snow" cliché.

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The importance of the mother tongue has been emphasized by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) for well over 50 years. In 2009, Save the Children published a report highlighting this very fact, Language and Education: The Missing Link.

However, despite this, colonial goals push third-world countries towards adapting English as a main language in their schools for children. British funded reports such as English Next India by David Graddol push for British involvement in Indian education.

Understanding the difference between these two reports and noticing the biases that affect each is vital for forming educated opinions about the topic.

Demands for pushing English as a main language should be challenged and questioned to avoid further eradication of cultures and push of colonialism.

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Can you speak any languages better than English?

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Can you speak any languages better than English?

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A lot of us can't, even though our ancestors didn't. Really shows the success of English imperialism.

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The Face of Linguistic Imperialism - The British Empire

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The Face of Linguistic Imperialism - The British Empire

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The current reigning influence English has on the globe is undeniable. English is the third most spoken language in the world. It is a requirement for studying at some of the most prestigious universities everywhere. Though these connotations may seem, they have a dark history and reason for being so.

One example of this would be colonialism from Britain in Kenya.

The British offered protection and most importantly the bringing of a "civilization" to the Kenyan people. For them, the English language became a powerful tool of control for social indocrination. The Kenyan people were told that English was the "be all and end all of society and culture", and thus the education of the English language was enforced in schools. English was then associated with intelligence, as it was the only tool for communicating with the  higher class. (Heiblum)

This systematic push for the English language soon eradicated their native tongue.

Puerto Rican Independentista, Rafel Trelles explains just this: "Colonialism has destroyed the working culture of the most poor sectors of our population and created a culture of dependence." Their time is spent learning and perfecting the English language, instead of preserving their own cultures and customs.  (Carroll)

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Can you speak the language of your cultural ancestors?

Because the group below cannot, since they were victims of linguistic imperialism in the most extreme case.

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Imperialism Consequences - Canada's Indigenous

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Imperialism Consequences - Canada's Indigenous

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Infamous genocide of Indigenous culture which was a joint effort by Canadian government and Catholic church.

The victims were subject to physical and emotional abuse, banned from speaking their native languages and only allowed English & French. (Office of the Commissioner of Canada)

Consequently, thousands of survivors are now unable to pass their native language onto their children and turned to substance abuse to cope with the trauma inflicted.

This linguistic imperialism came in conjunction with colonization of indigenous lands; language imperialism and colonialism come hand-in-hand.

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Linguistic Imperialism in Progress - the Piraha

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Linguistic Imperialism in Progress - the Piraha

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While it is not yet at a stage where the alarm bells are sounding, there is some concerns because of the uniqueness of the Piraha way of life.

The Piraha native language has no:

tense (only speak of the present, no past or future)

numbers ("few" or "many")

words for abstract ideas (ex. metaphors)

The natives follow the "happiness is in the present" philosophy. There is no way to speak their worries of what has or what is to happen, no counting paychecks to identify if they can afford their bills, and no worries of whether they live with purpose.

BUT...
A school was opened by the Brazilian government to teach them Portuguese and modern culture -- this will influence their way of thinking and simple lifestyle. Is this an attempt to force them into adapting Brazilian culture? (O’Neill and Wood)

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Follow the 35 year story of Daniel Everett and what he learned from the extraordinary Amazonian Pirah tribe, a group of indigenous hunter- gatherers in Brazil whose culture and outlook on life has taken the world of linguistics by storm.

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Léglise, Isabelle, and Bettina Migge. "Language and colonialism. Applied linguistics in the context of creole communities." (2007): 297-338.

Phillipson, Robert. “Linguistic Imperialism Alive and Kicking.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Mar. 2012, www.theguardian.com/education/2012/mar/13/linguistic-imperialism-english-language-teaching.

Heiblum, Brandon. “Linguistic Imperialism: A Tool for Control in the British Empire.” Contemporary Review of Genocide and Political Violence, Contemporary Review of Genocide and Political Violence, 2 Sept. 2019, crgreview.com/linguistic-imperialism-a-tool-for-control-in-the-british-empire/.

Corradi, Anna, et al. “The Linguistic Colonialism of English.” Brown Political Review, 25 Apr. 2017, brownpoliticalreview.org/2017/04/linguistic-colonialism-english/.

O’Neill, Michael and Randall Wood, directors. The Grammar of Happiness. Kanopy, Green Planet Films, 2012, www.kanopy.com/product/grammar-happiness.

Carroll, Kevin S. “UNDERSTANDING PERCEPTIONS OF LANGUAGE THREAT: THE CASE OF PUERTO RICO.” Caribbean Studies, vol. 44, no. 1/2, 2016, pp. 167–186. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44364466. Accessed 5 Aug. 2021.

“The Indian Residential Schools System Is Officially Established.” Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Government of Canada, 18 Sept. 2020, www.clo-ocol.gc.ca/en/timeline-event/indian-residential-schools-system-officially-established.

“Do Inuits Really Have 50 Words for Snow?” Readable, 9 Feb. 2019, readable.com/blog/do-inuits-really-have-50-words-for-snow/.

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TLDR; When a language becomes the dominant language of a group of non-native speakers.

Why is it called "imperialism"? Because it often comes hand-in-hand with imperialism itself.

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Can you speak English? (yes, probably, if you're reading this)

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European colonialism had a pronounced effect on the cultural and linguistic practices of the colonized regions. Colonizers assigned non-European language and culture a lower status and despite the modern political independence many of the ex-colonies have gained, the cultural and linguistic stigma remains.

Through education, colonizers instilled the superiority of their language and halted the development of indigenous languages by placing them at the bottom of the language hierarchy. Anyone who wanted to advance socially was required to use the colonizer's language.
This often resulted in the death of many languages.

Research into the topic accelerated in the 1970s and focused on accentuating the social inequalities that had arisen as a result of colonization. According to Migge and Léglise,

"Although many of these regions have since gained political independence, access to education, knowledge, power and self-sufficiency of indigenous populations continues to be highly limited." (Migge, Léglise 4).

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How many of these languages can you recognize?

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How many of these languages can you recognize?

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While linguistic imperialism is probably beyond a single person's control, there are some small ways you can help maintain linguistic and cultural diversity!

Learn new languages. You may gain a new perspective on the world and be able to travel to those countries and impressive the natives!

Engage with cultural traditions. Celebrate holidays, attend festivals and try ethnic food. They're fun and delicious.

Support ministries and commissioners aimed at promoting cultural diversity. Write to politicians when you would like to see something changed.