Willamena
03-10-2005, 22:56
I thought this was neat...
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CP) - They may have 20 words for snow, but they're short of terms for ozone layer and greenhouse gas.
Inuit translators and elders from across the Arctic will meet Tuesday to develop standard words to allow speakers of northern aboriginal languages to talk about the accelerating global warming of their homeland.
"We don't have any terminologies per se in Inuktitut right now when we focus on climate change," said David Akeeagok of Nunavut's Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
"What we want to do is ensure that there are standard words in English and Inuktitut, for climate change especially. That way the hunters can talk to the scientists on the same wavelength where both of them have very valuable information that they'd like to share."
Recent studies suggest the Arctic is experiencing the effects of climate change both earlier and more intensely than other parts of the globe - so fast that northern language can't keep up.
Inuktitut, for example, has no standardized terms for concepts such as biodiversity, the Gulf Stream or shoreline erosion.
Even the term climate change presents problems. When scientists use it, it refers to everything from changing local weather or ice conditions to rising temperatures around the globe.
http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=canada_home&articleID=2045365
___________________
CP) - They may have 20 words for snow, but they're short of terms for ozone layer and greenhouse gas.
Inuit translators and elders from across the Arctic will meet Tuesday to develop standard words to allow speakers of northern aboriginal languages to talk about the accelerating global warming of their homeland.
"We don't have any terminologies per se in Inuktitut right now when we focus on climate change," said David Akeeagok of Nunavut's Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
"What we want to do is ensure that there are standard words in English and Inuktitut, for climate change especially. That way the hunters can talk to the scientists on the same wavelength where both of them have very valuable information that they'd like to share."
Recent studies suggest the Arctic is experiencing the effects of climate change both earlier and more intensely than other parts of the globe - so fast that northern language can't keep up.
Inuktitut, for example, has no standardized terms for concepts such as biodiversity, the Gulf Stream or shoreline erosion.
Even the term climate change presents problems. When scientists use it, it refers to everything from changing local weather or ice conditions to rising temperatures around the globe.
http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=canada_home&articleID=2045365