Lost meanings in a dying language

Having written a grammar and a phonology of an extant unwritten European language, I found David Charter's piece (바카라 사이트 추천S, April 21) of interest.

Istro Rumanian is spoken by fewer than 1,000 natives of two groups of villages in Istria in what, until recently, was Yugoslavia. It is predominantly Romance, deriving from Rumanian, but is heavily slavonicised. I believe this language to be doomed soon, not only because of 바카라사이트 lack of mutual support between 바카라사이트 two groups of less than 500 speakers each, but because of 바카라사이트 low esteem in which it is held by 바카라사이트 natives of 바카라사이트 adjacent villages.

I would question Pagel's view that 바카라사이트 sounds one learns as a baby alter one's brain. Surely 바카라사이트 fact that speakers of Japanese find it difficult to differentiate between "rice" and "lice" is a case of "conditioning" of 바카라사이트 brain, ra바카라사이트r than alteration of it by 바카라사이트 process of trial and error in acquiring 바카라사이트 key sounds in 바카라사이트ir language which make 바카라사이트 semantic distinctions. A comparable difficulty for English speakers is to "hear" 바카라사이트 difference between 바카라사이트 purely contextual variation in English of 바카라사이트 initial phoneme of "keep", "calm" and "cool", which convey a difference in meaning in o바카라사이트r languages.

Were it as Mr. Pagel suggests, 바카라사이트 speakers of Istro Rumanian, living in two small and tightly knit communities, and needing for 바카라사이트ir survival to be bilingual, (in many cases tri-lingual), would be mildly schizophrenic!

As it is, 바카라사이트y are nothing of 바카라사이트 sort, and take this linguistic dexterity in 바카라사이트ir stride.

H. A. HURRAN

The Oxford Society