the question i get from people all the time, especially AA's regarding our amerindian heritage; "if you're a real indian, then how come you don't speak your language? my reply to y'all for the umpteenth time: we ARE speaking it. if you knew how the english language was spoken prior to and even after 1492, you wouldn't be able to comprehend most of it. and it doesn't matter the type of english, be it king's, baroque, cockney, codswallop or whatever. you can go to certain parts of the uk right now and listen to the people there and all you would get is snippets of words that you actually know and understand. our languages have been broken down and fractured, but they're still alive and we still speak them, whether some of us realize it or not. especially when it comes to accentuating words. words are living things, and languages, even dead languages, are something you can breathe life into. so when i tell you we are on our way back to speaking our recognized languages, i say it because i believe it. and i believe it because i see it happening every day...
