Discussion Post #9 due by 5pm on Sunday, November 17

Languages go extinct for various reasons, including colonization, globalization, and the dominance of more widely spoken languages, which often push minority languages to the margins. Economic pressures, cultural assimilation, and intergenerational language loss—where younger generations stop learning their ancestral language—also play significant roles. When a language dies, it’s not just words that are lost but an entire cultural worldview, including unique knowledge of the environment, traditions, and oral histories. I always hold the fear for China that one day all dialects are going to become distinct due to factors such as economic pressure and cultural assimilation. Because Mandarin is the official language, many dialects used by the ethnic minorities in China have already gone distinct because the younger generations has to emphasize on learning Mandarin instead of their own language, if they want to walk out of the mountains to enter the cities and find a job.

Linguists play a vital role in language preservation by documenting endangered languages through recordings, dictionaries, and grammar guides. They collaborate with communities to ensure the resources are accessible and culturally relevant. Efforts like the Siletz talking dictionary demonstrate how modern technology can preserve and teach languages. My anthropology professor Dr. Jennifer Nourse, is also dedicated to work on language preservation for a dialect in Indonesia. She is is the process of making an official dictionary and will go there for more research next semester. While a "dead" language, one without native speakers, may never return to full community use, it can still be revitalized for cultural purposes, Hebrew is a well-known example.

Today, initiatives like online dictionaries and language classes aim to document and preserve linguistic diversity. Even social media like TikTok is beneficial for people to share and preserve the language in a new way. These efforts not only save languages but also reinforce the cultural identities and resilience of the communities that speak them, offering hope in the fight against language extinction.

Languages are at risk of going extinct when small communities face great challenges in trying to overcome oppression and prejudice, resulting in a feeling of low self-esteem. These difficult circumstances may cause people to give up their language, even though those people are the only ones who can save the language. Additionally, languages can go extinct when people migrate and/or are displaced from their rural villages, whether that be to seek economic opportunities or improve their social mobility. As they leave their communities and countries behind, the languages are not being intergenerationally transmitted, and the generational shift that follows could also contribute greatly to the extinction of a language. The loss of a language is not just a linguistic issue, but also a deep cultural tragedy, in that when languages die, unique worldviews, knowledge systems, and cultural identities are lost as well. Linguists can help preserve languages by documenting endangered languages, implementing them into educational programs, and creating digital resources to help younger generations reconnect with their linguistic and cultural heritage. Although extremely difficult, it is possible to bring a ‘dead’ language back to life if it has been well-documented and there are individuals who are interested in being engaged and immersed in language revitalization. Especially in this generation, social media could be of great use and a language could be revitalized through integrating it into modern communication. As of late, some efforts that are currently underway to document linguistic diversity include pointing gestures, using contact languages, and linguists immersing themselves in the environment in which the language is used.

Replies

Ziran Zhou November 17, 2024 at 11:09pm

Languages go extinct for various reasons, including colonization, globalization, and the dominance of more widely spoken languages, which often push minority languages to the margins. Economic pressures, cultural assimilation, and intergenerational language loss—where younger generations stop learning their ancestral language—also play significant roles. When a language dies, it’s not just words that are lost but an entire cultural worldview, including unique knowledge of the environment, traditions, and oral histories. I always hold the fear for China that one day all dialects are going to become distinct due to factors such as economic pressure and cultural assimilation. Because Mandarin is the official language, many dialects used by the ethnic minorities in China have already gone distinct because the younger generations has to emphasize on learning Mandarin instead of their own language, if they want to walk out of the mountains to enter the cities and find a job.

Linguists play a vital role in language preservation by documenting endangered languages through recordings, dictionaries, and grammar guides. They collaborate with communities to ensure the resources are accessible and culturally relevant. Efforts like the Siletz talking dictionary demonstrate how modern technology can preserve and teach languages. My anthropology professor Dr. Jennifer Nourse, is also dedicated to work on language preservation for a dialect in Indonesia. She is is the process of making an official dictionary and will go there for more research next semester. While a "dead" language, one without native speakers, may never return to full community use, it can still be revitalized for cultural purposes, Hebrew is a well-known example.

Today, initiatives like online dictionaries and language classes aim to document and preserve linguistic diversity. Even social media like TikTok is beneficial for people to share and preserve the language in a new way. These efforts not only save languages but also reinforce the cultural identities and resilience of the communities that speak them, offering hope in the fight against language extinction.
Janice Park November 17, 2024 at 7:02pm

Languages are at risk of going extinct when small communities face great challenges in trying to overcome oppression and prejudice, resulting in a feeling of low self-esteem. These difficult circumstances may cause people to give up their language, even though those people are the only ones who can save the language. Additionally, languages can go extinct when people migrate and/or are displaced from their rural villages, whether that be to seek economic opportunities or improve their social mobility. As they leave their communities and countries behind, the languages are not being intergenerationally transmitted, and the generational shift that follows could also contribute greatly to the extinction of a language. The loss of a language is not just a linguistic issue, but also a deep cultural tragedy, in that when languages die, unique worldviews, knowledge systems, and cultural identities are lost as well. Linguists can help preserve languages by documenting endangered languages, implementing them into educational programs, and creating digital resources to help younger generations reconnect with their linguistic and cultural heritage. Although extremely difficult, it is possible to bring a ‘dead’ language back to life if it has been well-documented and there are individuals who are interested in being engaged and immersed in language revitalization. Especially in this generation, social media could be of great use and a language could be revitalized through integrating it into modern communication. As of late, some efforts that are currently underway to document linguistic diversity include pointing gestures, using contact languages, and linguists immersing themselves in the environment in which the language is used.

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