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India four times wealthier than Europe in terms of languages according to survey

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Peter Linton (X)
Peter Linton (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:38
Swedish to English
+ ...
Four times poorer Sep 12, 2013

The purpose of language is to communicate with other people, so the fewer languages the better.
 
Piyush Ojha
Piyush Ojha  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:38
English to Hindi
+ ...
Linguistic richness/poverty Sep 12, 2013

Peter Linton wrote:

The purpose of language is to communicate with other people, so the fewer languages the better.


Such crude quantification of linguistic richness is, of course, meaningless, but surely, linguistic diversity signifies cultural diversity, and that is good.
 
Steve Kerry
Steve Kerry  Identity Verified
Local time: 21:38
German to English
Carrier bags Sep 12, 2013

And we have probably got more waste carrier bags than they have, but so what? I really don't see the point of this statement.

Steve K.
 
Debbie Nevo
Debbie Nevo  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:38
Hebrew to English
Linguistic diversity Sep 13, 2013

http://www.ask.com/question/how-many-languages-are-spoken-in-england

According to this link, schoolchildren in England speak over 240 languages.
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 22:38
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Richer, not wealthier Sep 13, 2013

The survey itself uses the term "richer", which means "to have more of something", which is true in this case -- India has more languages than Europe.

The decision to change "richer" to a word that means something entirely different (wealthier, i.e. to have more wealth), was made by ProZ.com staff. For some reason. Hype, perhaps?
 
Ty Kendall
Ty Kendall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:38
Hebrew to English
Call me skeptical but.... Sep 13, 2013

"India four times richer/wealthier than Europe in terms of languages according to survey" according to research conducted by the "People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI)" and publicized in the "Times of India".

Clearly this was just a bit of "feel-good" spin for domestic consumption.

I also find myself doubting the scientific method: "Jakhde points out that he did not go by conventional definitions of dialects and languages...Pigmallion [sic] and Edu... See more
"India four times richer/wealthier than Europe in terms of languages according to survey" according to research conducted by the "People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI)" and publicized in the "Times of India".

Clearly this was just a bit of "feel-good" spin for domestic consumption.

I also find myself doubting the scientific method: "Jakhde points out that he did not go by conventional definitions of dialects and languages...Pigmallion [sic] and Educating Rita...these books amply demonstrate show how unscientific the notion of dialect is"

Hmmm...

[Edited at 2013-09-13 07:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 


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India four times wealthier than Europe in terms of languages according to survey







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