Language News Update: Languge, History, and Identity

This final Language News Update of the week looks at an assortment of topics beyond bilingualism and language acquisition.

• A study just out has quite interestingly determined that the Dravidian language appears to be about 4,500 years old.
• Want to learn a language? Drink alcohol! Okay, it is not that simplistic (nor would we here at this blog recommend you actually do so), but a study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology did find some interesting correlations between language acquisition and alcohol.
• In somewhat more serious news, more Americans really, really do need to start learning more languages. If you do not buy into the neurological and social benefits, than at least recognize the sociopolitical and economic benefits of developing a multilingual population. Language says much, much more even than nuclear weapons or the size of a nation's military.
• The largely discredited Sapir-Whorf hypothesis may actually have some validity, at least in relation to time (and our perception of it).
• Finally, just as clearly as bilingualism improves cognitive functions, so language is intimately linked to identity. Thus the danger of language politics and, by necessary association, colonialism and imperialism. A study of a Native American language reminds of of the sobering consequences of these tragic -isms. Will we of the 21st century accept the history lesson?