In a society, there are many ways to preserve one's culture. One of the ways is through a spoken language. However, over the course of time, many languages that were once spoken, have gone extinct and with it, important pieces and or entire cultures have been lost to us. It has been predicted that by the year 2100 over 90% of the languages that are spoken in the world will disappear. But how does a language become extinct? One of the common ways is that the sole survivor of the language dies, but this is not the only way language death can occur. Another way a language can be lost by being bilingual. This happens when areas that were native languages become overwhelmed by the other language that is being used. A prime example of this is the spread of the English language. English is becoming a dominant language around the world that it is causing certain places to stop using their native language and making them use in English public place. Over time people start to let go of the native language since it not the primary language anymore. Today as many as 7,000 languages are spoken, and a total of 473 of the languages that are spoken today are in endangered of becoming extinct. When a language becomes extinct, researchers not only lose how a language is spoken but they lose an enormous amount of cultural data in the form of how people express relationships with their environment, the organization of one's culture, and their emotions to one other. The language also provides a sense of identity for people within the culture, that disappears along with the language becoming extinct, leaving the culture in the complete chaos that eventually leads to their own demise. With language, death occurring more rapidly in modern times, several organizations and linguist are trying to save languages through revitalization. Examples of revitalized languages are Welsh and Maori which were brought back from the brink of extinction. Hebrew which was once a dead language at one time was resurrected and is spoken once again. Even though revitalization is a solution to saving endangered languages, it's not the correct way to save them. The possible correct way to saving a language is to make people aware of the consequences that happen when a language dies. Languages are a part of people's culture, and they need to be preserved and protected for the culture to survive.
Sources from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8311000/8311069.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/18cnd-language.html
Morgan, I think it is interesting that you chose to talk about dead languages. It is a very important topic in today's world. The statistics and facts you found were very insightful and reiterates that languages are dying or on the brink of extinction. It is important for people to continue to speak their native languages so that they can continue to survive as a language. Another point I found interesting is how being bilingual has added to languages becoming dead. I found that extremely interesting that makes a lot of sense. Great blog post, very interesting!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. This topic is semi-related to mine, especially the prediction that more than 90% will be extinct. With such a massive decline, it really allows for any number of languages to have existed in the past, resulting in a near impossible search for the true origin of language.
ReplyDeleteIf 90% of current languages, or more, are expected to be extinct by 2100, I cannot help but wonder when English will disappear, if ever. I do not think it would be by 2100, but it is possible. What do you think?