I think we also take it for granted that every day here in an English-speaking world, we

can see examples of our language everywhere, whether it's in books, signage, radio, things

like podcasts, that the language is available to us.

That was Kurt Goliardo, the education interpretation manager at the Anchorage Museum. His job has

many aspects, including outreach, research, and curriculum creation. His education is

in linguistics, and that also comes into play. He says that understanding language is an

ongoing endeavor that involves considering how it influences identity and culture. Being

able to speak and communicate with one another, and convey our thoughts and desires is so

embedded within our understanding of the human experience that it can sometimes be forgotten

how much it affects. It shapes our entire world view. It's a cyclical concept Kurt describes

as one that influences our culture by the word choices we have, and then our culture influences

the language that we use to describe it. So here he is, Kurt Goliardo.

Welcome to chatter marks. A podcast of the Anchorage Museum. Dedicated to exploring Alaska's

identity. Through the creative and critical thinking of ideas. Past, present, and future.

My name is Cody Liska, and I'll be your host.

So something that you said earlier when we were talking was that you consider language

to be dormant if it's been recorded. Can you explain that a little bit?

Sure. So a good example would be in the late 1800s, there was a massive volcano called

Krakatoa, and it essentially displaced a lot of people. And because there were only a

few hundred words recorded, we have no idea how to bring the language back in any capacity

other than a hundred, two hundred vocabulary words. So then we can truly consider language

functionally extinct. But if a language such as EAC, for example, has had its grammar

...