This has probably been my favorite section so far. First off, I had no idea that there were so many language. Second off, I had no idea that they were dying so quickly! I love language and I think that the need to save dying languages is not only worthwhile but necessary. Crystal says, "Language death is like no other form of disappearance. When people die, they leave signs of their presence in the world, in the form of their dwelling places, burial mounds, artefacts - in a word, their archaeology. But spoken language leaves no archaeology. When a language dies, which has never been recorded, it is as if it has never been" (342). Languages also help to define cultures so when a language dies it brings a culture with it.
I also find the development of pidgin languages to be fascinating because they can essentially be created anywhere between any two languages AND if they are used enough for a long period they can actually turn into another language i.e. creole language. However, as Crystal explains, pidgin languages develop out of necessity and when they are no longer needed (for bargaining, trading etc) they will die out. There are two interesting things about creole and pidgin languages. 1. Pidgin/creole languages reflect the basic preferences in human language. In a sense, they are the most simplified forms of language and by analyzing them we can find out just how much we can simplify a language and still considerate a legitimate form of communication. What are the bare necessities of any language? Verbs? Nouns? Grammar? 2. This is just an interesting fact: Most all pidgin languages have traces of Portuguese. Even, "early accounts of Chinese pidgin refer to mixed dialect of English and Portuguese" (348).
Finally, how did language begin? Now one knows. Why does language change? No one knows. When does languages change? It is unpredictable. We may be able to link thousands of languages together. Study them, analyze them and teach them. However, in agreement with Crystal, I doubt that we will ever know the answer to these three questions. People have lots of theories about how language began but to be able to pinpoint the exact time and location that language, as we know it, came into being is an impossible task.
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