Preservation of our planet’s vanishing languages is a fascinating thing. If you are bilingual you may understand how different the world can seem just by experiencing it in a different language. The same word can have a vastly different meaning –> consider of course the common example of the multiple words the Inuit people have for snow or my personal favorite “Frühschoppen” a German word specifically used for drinking before noon (a word desperately lacking in the life of the American graduate student)
As a language dies, so does our understanding of the culture, teachings, and customs of the people who once spoke the langue. A common dilemma is how to keep a language that is dying vital to the new generations? Well, consider this:
This morning I heard about the translation of one of my favorite films, Star Wars, into Navajo! It premer as part of the Navajo Nation Fair in Window Rock, Arizona this summer. Lucas Arts has no word whether or not it will be released in any other capacity….but should all nerds know how to say “Luke, I am your father” in as many languages as possible!?
Tried my hand at a tradition Navajo Headdress, but didn’t do it justice!
The Navajo live in the South West US and are the largest federally recognized tribe with approximately 300,048 enrolled tribal members. Read a little more about the translation project here at NPR.com
The title translation was just plugged into an internet English/ Navajo online dictionary…my apologies for any inaccuracies.
A Cup A Day 