[Foundation-l] Arabic, a non native language

Tue Aug 12 16:06:21 UTC 2008

On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:15 AM, Andrew Whitworth
<wknight8111 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:07 AM, Mark Williamson <node.ue at gmail.com> wrote:
>> That's not true. Although the vast majority of Arabs are raised on a
>> local variety, there are a small number whose native language is
>> indeed Modern Standard Arabic. Imagine, perhaps, that their father is
>> a well-educated Moroccan and their mother is a well-educated Syrian,
>> and they were raised in Yemen.
>
> This is perhaps the perfect example for why cut-and-dry rules for
> language approval are probably not a good method. Languages need to be
> evaluated individually based on the population of content producers
> and content consumers, the efficacy, utility, and longevity of the
> language and it's speaking population, and other factors.
[snip]

...and without prejudiced assumptions about what languages are the
"right" or "best" for a person based on the accident of their
geographic location or ethnic heritage.

Thank you for making your point.