On the Death of a Language

Possibly the most severe example of the disintegration of a tradition is in the death of a language. What a fitting thing for an obituary to mourn. This is a loss we all must feel. Since form and content must reflect one another, at least to some degree, imagine the myths and stories that were lost--stories that could only be told in a that language with words with particular layers of meaning. Imagine the poems that we don't have anymore and the metaphors. As Donne wrote, "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee," so the death of a language impoverishes our own language (or the whole of which our language is part).