Is it possible to revive a culture by learning its dead language?

Question

Is this, for example, what happened with Hebrew when it was adopted for modern Israel? Could members of a native American tribe ever truly regain their culture by similarly learning its dead language?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004197831_lostlanguage24.html

Answer 1

I think it is possible to help to revive a culture in this way...it can never be the same, of course.  Though much may have been lost, I think it can be revived if it is done through the collective effort of descendants, historians, anthropologists, scientists, etc.  And it is worth the effort, especially for the descendants of and heirs to that culture since it is part of their identity.

I think it is important to have people who were shaped by that culture, including those whose parents, grandparents, great-grandparents were shaped by that culture, because there are intangible things passed down from generation to generation...memories, emotions, family traditions, ways of dealing with life and the world, different ways of seeing.  That's the "soul" of the language, the meaning behind the words.

There are often unfortunate roadblocks, usually from the dominant culture(s), which refuse to acknowledge the descendants of the so-called "dead" cultures as legitimate for many reasons.

Answer 2

I don't believe so. There is much more to language than simple word definitions. For instance, the word "cool." In some uses it means cold, in others it means good.

There is a feeling associated with all languages and that can not be revived. For this reason, be careful when adhering to traditions set down in text which has been translated.

I fell much sadness for the American Indians but, they are close enough to their roots in terms of time, that the loss is minimal.

Answer 3

When a culture is dead so are its people !.

Answer 4

If you think that culture had anything to do with biology - then the answer is no.  It begs the question - does language come from a biological place?  Are certain gene pools adept at certain sounds?

I don't think that American Indians necessarily want their historical culture back as a way of life.   For example, I don't think that they want to be mobile buffalo hunters again - their modern wants and needs as humans have evolved just like every body else's.  I do think, however,  that they want their land back.  They just want the United States Government to honor treaties and contracts that it negotiated throughout history.  Also, they probably want anthropologists to quit doing DNA testing on ancient skeletal remains.  After all, ancestry and land is what American Indians hold most dear - these two things have basically been spat upon by the United Stated Government and its intellectuals.

Answer 5

You would have to have more than just a language to resurrect a lost culture. A society or culture is more than just the words - it is the musical style, literature, historical stories, beliefs, drama, visual arts, and mores. Mores - pronounced more-rays - are norms, that is expected behaviors. These are the sort of things that are often unspoken or unrecorded.

Knowing a language does not give us access to all the other elements that make up a culture. But, knowing the language of a long-gone culture can help us understand their history and appreciate their art.