Yes, it is a very ancient language that hasn't changed much. But whatever the language, you will find that there will always be something lost when you translate it into another language, hence the term, lost in translation. This is especially so when terms with subtle differences are translated into the same term in another language. As an example, both 怀念 and 想念 are translated to miss in English, yet the two terms clearly convey different meanings.
For someone who is truly bilingual or multilingual, he will understand that it is a loss to humanity when a language is lost. Just like it is a loss if a species of animal or plant became extinct (you may claim it is survival of the fittest but you can't deny it is a loss nonetheless and you may never even realise how big a loss it is). I view the diversity of languages as something to be celebrated. My only regret is that the average human brain is not capable enough to handle vastly different languages easily.
I view the diversity of languages as something to be celebrated. My only regret is that the average human brain is not capable enough to handle vastly different languages easily.
If everyone is of the same skin colour and spoke the same language, I will bet you anything that humankind will devise up another scheme to differentiate among the people.
Homogeneity will never be the solution to the problem of "scarce" resources. "Scarce" because not everyone agrees on the quantity defined as scarce.
Precisely, not to mention that even people of the same faith are killing each other because they belong to different denominations of the faith.
As I have said, diversity is not the cause of conflict, the desire for conflict is built into our genes, diversity or no diversity. The earlier we understand this, the earlier we become more rational about our phobias towards each other. In fact, I believe the Chinese are more advanced than other civilisations in understanding this. The only problem is that conflict avoidance is not a very smart strategy if no one else is practising it.