The Mangyan Heritage Center is trying to keep an ancient Filipino script of the Baybayin language alive. Photo: Aya Lowe
The Mangyan Heritage Center is trying to keep an ancient Filipino script of the Baybayin language alive. Photo: Aya Lowe
The Mangyan Heritage Center is trying to keep an ancient Filipino script of the Baybayin language alive. Photo: Aya Lowe
The Mangyan Heritage Center is trying to keep an ancient Filipino script of the Baybayin language alive. Photo: Aya Lowe

Speaking in tongues


  • English
  • Arabic

Latin, despite the frequent declarations of schoolchildren, is not a dead language (and certainly has never killed anyone). But while it is still frequently studied it is less frequently spoken, and certainly nowhere as a native language. By contrast, the languages that descend from it such as Spanish, Italian and French, are spoken by hundreds of millions of people.

The report in The National yesterday on Baybayin, an old language in the Philippines that is on the verge of extinction, has shed light on the evolution and death of languages worldwide. There is a Darwinian school of thought when it comes to languages: that more successful languages like Arabic and English have, essentially, “out-competed” small languages. If no one chooses to speak Baybayin, will it really be missed?

Another school of thought, however, sees language as a part of a culture, not merely a way of transmitting ideas but a way of forming them. How different would the grand poetry of the Arabs sound in Tagalog? How would German philosophical treatises read if written in Urdu?

Perhaps then there is a case for preserving these dying languages, especially now that the technology exists. It could be a new Babel, not a tower to the sky, but a museum of languages. And where better to build it than right here in the Middle East?

Race card

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m

Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogenChromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxideUltramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica contentOphiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on landOlivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Revival
Eminem
Interscope

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler

Price, base / as tested Dh57,000

Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine

Transmission Six-speed gearbox

Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm

Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5