More on dead (and dying) languages

Check out what Chris found.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/welsh/default.stm which is the welsh version of the bbc website. Now while that's by itself isn't all that cool, there's a header on the left side that says "bbc vocab" and underneath that is a link that says turn on. When you do that it highlights all the words so that you can mouse over them to see the translation of the various welsh words. Now tell me that's not cool! You can learn the almost dead language by reading the news.

Pretty crazy.

I have to admit that seeing the Welsh language referred to as "almost dead" made me sad. "Aubrey", my maiden name, has its roots in Wales, as does my dad's side of the family. Back in high school, I was really interested in Wales, enough that I did a lot of research into the history and culture. I bought a reference book called Wales, and I was on a constant quest to find a picture book of the country--I never have found one. I suppose it's sentimentality that saddens me at the thought that the language that birthed my maiden name, the language of my ancestors, is dying.

I think what was striking to me about it was how matter-of-fact Chris' statement was. Just another example of how things don't really get to you sometimes until they're personally relevant.

On the bright side, I just spotted a 2005 Wales calendar on Amazon.com!