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Re: Languages, "modern" and otherwise
Iain Walker (iainw@SUE.ECON.SU.OZ.AU)
Fri, 23 Aug 1996 12:55:08 +1100
On Thu, 22 Aug 1996, Gary Goodman wrote:
> To bring this a bit more into the list topic area, the discussion then
> strayed into whether the general dominance of English on the Internet
> (at least so it is said) will truly make it the universal tongue, and
> what cultural ramifications this will mean. Certainly many French
I don't know. I wonder if anglophones aren't overestimating their
importance on the Internet (and elsewhere). Certainly English is
dominant in English-language parts of the Internet, but there are now
whole chunks of French, German, etc. language Internet. Which didn't
exist a few years ago. I think, if anything, English is becoming less
dominant rather than more dominant as the Internet becomes truly
international.
In my personal case, I speak French and my research topic is a
francophone country. Two or three years ago there was virtually nothing
in French on the Internet. Now there is an immense range of resources.
Indeed, the problem now is accessing it, especially newsgroups, since
distribution is often not worldwide but restricted to French-speaking
domains.
Iain Walker * Dept. of Anthropology * University of Sydney
iainw@sue.econ.su.oz.au * ngazidja@jolt.mpx.com.au
"L'homme qui a deux femmes perd son ame;
"L'homme qui a deux maisons perd sa raison"
or
"mdru ukana hahe na ha nduhuze"
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