The story of the Siletz Dee-ni Native American tribal language demonstrates how languages go extinct and the enduring processes they must undergo to be revitalized. Languages, I would assume more often than not die out slowly rather than quickly. When languages do die out quickly it is most likely a result of a small community of speakers dying through mass extinction such as genocide, disaster, etc. When languages die out after generations, it is the result of as the article said "big linguistic sweepstakes winners" being prioritized and the native speakers losing proficiency in their native language. For example, with my native tongue 'Amharic', I see many Ethiopian diasporas, my brother for instance, losing their proficiency in their native tongue because parents believe that although retaining their native tongue is important, English in America will be far more beneficial. This results in a generation with weak native language skills, who then will create a generation that is even worse because they don't have parents to learn from, and so on and so forth. Therefore, aside from linguists I think the diaspora community of different countries in the U.S. and the West, in general, can play a larger role in preserving native languages. That is why I, myself, am passionate about constantly speaking my native language, learning another one of my native languages currently, and making sure the people around me from Ethiopia, including my brother, maintain proficiency in it. English is important, that is no question, but "big linguistic sweepstakes winners" should not take precedence over the languages that generations before me spoke and maintained. Additionally, the article interestingly mentions the role schools/government play in the extinction of tribal languages which makes me think that linguists too can play an administrative, for lack of better words, role in preserving languages on the brink of dying out. Linguistics can work to document/record languages that are not popular and dedicate their knowledge, resources, etc to study/work on these languages. Extinction of languages arises from their deprioritization, linguists can start by prioritizing them.
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Learning about the Siletz Dee-ni tribal language is fascinating for me, mainly because I hadn't even heard of this language before, but also because of the connections between your native tongue and the indigenous language. I believe language has an inherent power as a cultural symbol but also as a living tool that maintains traditions and retains historical value. I think there is an really interesting point here about the role of colonialism within the prevalence of indigenous languages as well. thank you for sharing! :)
Hey Melale!
This is so interesting, I really appreciate your dedication to maintaining your native language and learning another Ethiopian language as a sort of cultural preservation. I think that it is really so important to maintain connections through language because it is so important to understand a culture how it exists and relates to a person, then how they articulate it. I feel as though so many beautifully unique aspects of a culture are lost when you are learning about it from English rather than in the language that the culture is rooted in. I am in awe of your sense of duty to the languages, I feel a similar sort of importance of rediscovering my family's language because my parents didn't learn, and my grandparents only communicated with them in English to encourage integration into American society.
Hi Melale!
I see frequently that Latin American immigrants also have a reluctance to teach their children Spanish, but partially out of shame. I always found this ironic, considering most Indigenous languages in Latin America had died out after colonialism due to this same kind of "shame" of ones origins. Do you find a similar pattern in Ethiopia or other African cultures?
Hey Melale––
Really interesting story about your brother and parents, I always find it interesting when people view language from a functional point of view rather than a more cultural preservationist perspective. On another note, I also wrote about how linguistic departments in schools can help dying languages, so I would agree that we should start prioritizing the preservation of rare languages.