4 ms·
I'll go with Michael Savage's definition. A country is defined by language, borders, culture. Presumably, if one demonstrates mastery of language(1) and cultur
by jackhack 10y ago
I'll go with Michael Savage's definition. A country is defined by language, borders, culture.
Presumably, if one demonstrates mastery of language(1) and cultural knowledge(2), he can be assumed to be a countryman.
1) This practice dates back to biblical times.
"Shibboleth": mid 17th cent.: from Hebrew šibbōleṯ ‘ear of corn,’ used as a test of nationality by its difficult pronunciation (Judg. 12:6).
2) Common example: During WW2, if a suspected spy were encountered, mastery of language and accent may not be enough to assess his status. Cultural questions were asked: Where does the NY Mets play? What's Mickey Mouse's girlfriend's name? Questions could also be about celebrities, movie stars, music, novels, etc.
- ararar 10y agoMaybe it's nitpicking but the shibboleth was used to differentiate between members of different tribes of the same people involved in what amounted to a civil war. It is useless for distinguishing between speakers of different languages.
- jackhack 10y agoNo, that's a good point. My intention was to use it as an example of distinguishing regional dialects, accents, etc. but also native speakers from second-language speakers.