glottophagy“LANGUAGE DEATH”

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LANGUAGE DEATH

Glottophagy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DESIGN WORKSHOP PROPOSAL

Glottophagy: Language DeathYSDN 4004 Design Workshop | Wendy Wong

December 8, 2010

Submitted by: Yvonne Ho

Overview 4

Purpose 4

Target Group: Why China 5

Map: The Sinitic Languages 6

Project Scope 7

Methodology 8

Proposed Schedule 8

Resources 9

Inspiration 10

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Glottophagy

The death of a language effectively reduces the “entire range of the human imagination... to a more

narrow modality of thought”

- WADE DAVIS

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Glottophagy

Glottophagy: glotto meaning speech or tongue, and phagy meaning the act of

devouring; in essence, it is the cannibalism of language—the detrimental death of lan-

guage. As part of our “intangible cultural heritage”, languages are humankind’s main

tools for interacting and for expressing ideas, emotions, knowledge, memories, and val-

ues1. Protecting endangered languages is a crucial task in maintaining cultural diversity

worldwide. There are many factors contributing to ‘language death’ but two main

factors are: increased migration and rapid urbanization. “They often bring along the

loss of traditional ways of life and a strong pressure to speak a dominant language that

is perceived to be necessary for full civic participation and economic advancement”2.

There are over 6000 languages spoken in the world today, half are in danger of

disappearing before the century ends3. Endangered languages can be found in every

region and in almost every country in the world, but regions with the greatest linguistic

diversity are also the ones with the most endangered languages. As a result, the

research focus will be targeted towards the diverse spoken languages in China.

The main questions that will be explored include:

+ What is the current state of language diversity in China? + How has the Chinese Diaspora affected the distribution of language?+ What other external forces are threatening these languages/dialects?

OVERVIEW

1 Source: http://www.unesco.org/culture/

2 Source: http://www.unesco.org/culture/

3 Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releas-

es/2007/02/070218140348.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2007) — Humans speak more than

6,000 languages. Nearly all of them could be extinct in

the next two centuries.

4 Source: http://www.ted.com/speakers/wade_davis.html

5 Source: http://www.unesco.org/culture/

Every language reflects a different perspective on the world with its unique value sys-

tems, philosophy, and cultural features. As Wade Davis says, not only is our biosphere

at risk, but our “ethnosphere” is also eroded by the way we are squeezing and shrink-

ing physical, economic, and social diversity4. The main purpose of this project is to

address the question of how to protect and bring awareness to the diversity of Chinese

culture and languages. By exploring the relationship between human imagination,

social innovation, and diversity—there is a greater chance of sustaining and continuing

the knowledge and beauty of these languages.

UNESCO Mandates to protect and preserve Endangered Languages5:

+ Raise awareness both inside and outside the spoken communities+ Support use of endangered languages in all contexts+ Monitor linguistic policies and practices+ Documentation of endangered languages+ Collect and preserve info of use of endangered languages

PURPOSE

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China represents a fascinating study in languages because of its current position

economically, politically, culturally, and historically. It also reveals an interesting

dichotomy: Taken as a single language, “Mandarin” has more native speakers than any

other language; however, “Chinese” is actually comprised of over 100 spoken dialects

or languages and many are in danger of extinction6. These Chinese dialects are unique

because they are not mutually intelligible. The great difference between dialects are so

great that many people argue for these dialects to be considered languages; however,

native speakers prefer the use of ‘dialect’ due to a mixture of historical, political, and

social reasons. China is currently undergoing major cultural change, and this includes

a process of standardization where the use of standard mandarin is encouraged among

young children and students. As a result, the issue of retaining mother tongues is a

serious and relevant topic of debate.

The design challenges of this target group:

+ Cultural Differences: Chinese and Western culture are subject to different cultural

biases. China has a long history of collectivism, while Western cultures are mainly indi-

vidualistic. The collective orientation plays a large role in Chinese culture and values,

and this bias also extends to the way Chinese culture is perceived and understood, and

even the way it is taught.

+ Simplification of Complex Concepts: As mentioned earlier, the significance of

tones and use of pictograms make Chinese one of the hardest languages to learn. The

sounds are also extremely difficult to translate into Romanized words, the different

dialects have also resulted in very different historical translations of words so that

historical texts are very difficult to read and understand without pre-existing knowl-

edge of the language. This makes simplifying the concepts in this project to be very

necessary but also very difficult.

+ Pre-existing Beliefs: Many Westerners have pre-existing beliefs that may or may

not be accurate. Many influences in the media have portrayed the Chinese language

negatively or incorrectly so that there continues to be many misconceptions about

Chinese language, e.g. “Can you spell my name?” assuming there is an alphabet or that

all chinese dialects are the same.

+ Long Cultural History: China is among the world’s oldest continuing civilizations,

with a very rich social and cultural history. One of China’s most unique characteristics

is the importance placed on the unification of written language, where people from

different regions speak different dialects but can still understand each other with a

common written language. Over the centuries, changing governments, migrations, and

social events have changed the language landscape of China. This can be a challenge

to the project because it will be difficult to narrow the project scope and simplify some

of these complex context driven changes.

TARGET GROUP: WHY CHINA?

6 Source: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese/

aspect/dialectgroup.html

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The goal of this project is to develop a system that promotes and bring awareness to

the diversity and history of Chinese dialects or languages. More specifically, the project

aims to preserve dialects by increasing accessibility to a wider, non-native audience;

and seeks an unorthodox approach to learning about Chinese history, language, and

culture. In addition, the project seeks to identify specific issues of concern related to

the preservation of Chinese dialect, and how migration has encouraged or prevented

the loss of language.

The objectives of this system are:

+ Engage: Make the user interested in learning more about endangered Chinese

dialects and history

+ Awareness: Make the user aware of the current situation and why it is necessary to

preserve the knowledge contained within languages

+ Educate: Help preserve dialects by engaging a wider audience that is unfamiliar to

Chinese language and culture, and demonstrating the differences in dialects

+ Accessibility/Tangibility: Make the “intangible cultural heritage” tangible and

accessible by simplifying the complex with visual aids and attempting a different

approach to traditional learning7

Desired Outcome

A learning kit that contains a series of visual aids that educates and informs the

user about the different Chinese dialects, as well as, a ‘sensory’ education aid, that

applies unconventional teaching methods. The learning kit is modular, where pieces

can be taken out, replaced or altered. The kit can be used individually or in groups,

and since elements of the kit are adaptable and easy to move around—it can also be

useful for traveling.

PROJECT SCOPE

5 Source: http://www.unesco.org/culture/

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Languages are threatened by forces such as military, economic, religious, cultural or

educational subjugation, or by internal forces. Some forces are one time events, others

are on-going processes8.

+ Secondary Research: History books, past news articles, current news articles,

websites, and online statistical databases

+ Some Primary Research: Interviews with native speakers from different back

grounds (ie. Canadian-born) for first hand experience

JAN 5: Secondary research has already begun during the holidays

Research compiled into document

JAN 12: Data has begun to be sorted and analyzed into infographic

JAN 19: Discuss proposal to define project

Discuss concrete deliverables

JAN 26: Sketches and ideation

Process is documented on a blog/tumblr

FEB 2: More detailed ideation, and start developing mock ups

FEB 9: Critique and revise mock ups

FEB 16: Half way point

Comprehensive design proposal with mock ups

MAR 2: Revise and design development

MAR 9: Revise and design development

MAR 16: Mock up of the kit should be built

Most pieces are complete and ready for printing

MAR 23: Project is mostly complete, final critique and revisions

MAR 30: Last possible date for submission

METHODOLOGY

PROPOSED TIMELINE

8 Source: http://www.unesco.org/culture/

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http://www.un.org/works/OLD/culture/index.html/

http://www.chinaunique.com/educate/language.htm

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm/page1512.htm

http://www.pearstories.org/

http://www.un.org/works/OLD/culture/index.html/

http://www.ted.com/speakers/wade_davis.html

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/03/f-vp-handler.html

Davis, Wade. The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World. To-

ronto: House of Anansi, 2009. Print.

Keay, John. China: a History. New York: Basic, 2009. Print.

Liu, Haiming. “The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility, and Identity (review).”

Journal of Chinese Overseas 2.1 (2006): 150-53. Print.

WEB RESOURCES

PRINT RESOURCES

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I Heart Revolution: Jackie Pullinger | Glenn Stewart

Beautiful animated video that discusses the impact Jackie Pullinger brought to Hong

Kong as a loving Christian missionary. Demonstrates the effectiveness and power of

visual storytelling to educate and inform.

Infographics | Good Magazine

Good magazine does a great job of taking very complicated and boring sets of data

and bringing a playful spin on it. Visualizing the complicated to increase accessibility.

Zero per Zero | Travel Map series

Great set of maps that show how simplifying complicated data can improve wayfind-

ing and encourage traveling. Branding identity is also very well done.

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Perceived Cultural differences between Chinese and Westerners

Clever way of portraying cultural differences between Chinese and Western cultures.

Very simple and very effective to get the message across.

Earth Aid

Good example of a kit that offers different activities to promote the topic of sustain-

ability. It targets a younger audience so the imagery and writing reflect a video game.

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thank you!