Cultural Assimilation is one of the most common ways that languages go extinct. Cultural assimilation is when minority groups resemble a majority group and assume their values, behaviors, language, and beliefs. This often leads to language and cultural shifts as people try to assimilate to those of higher prestige language speakers, and as time passes, the newer generation’s proficiency decreases. This all leads to the abandonment of a native language. Language also dies when there are no more native speakers left.
After reading the readings, I learned about how Bud Lane, a tribe member of Siletz who worked on the online Siletz Dee-ni talking dictionary, recorded 10,000 audio entries himself to stabilize the language. The reading explained how the government in the 1850s jammed different tribes into one place, although the groups spoke different languages and had little in common. Lane explained Siletz survived against the other tribes. The Siletz culture became adopted by other tribes as their cultures faded due to their larger numbers, and the other languages ended up disappearing. I was amazed at how the Siletz overcame so many obstacles and are trying to preserve their language.
Linguists can help preserve a language by having recorded or printed documentation of the language. David Harrison explains that one of the reasons why languages end up dying is because they have never been written down or recorded, so it’s just in people’s memories that makes it very fragile. It is also important to document the culture of the language. As the reading explained, the Siletz survived as they hung onto their cultural anchors in songs and dances. With the help of linguists, cultural groups, and the community, I think reviving dead languages is possible. The linguist plays a crucial part in reviving the language as they are the ones who can go into the community, and absorb and understand the language on its own, which is known as the emic perspective. Because of computers and the modern technology we have today, it became possible to revive dead languages. Currently, technology can help document linguistic diversity more than ever before. With the help of technology, it becomes possible to document and preserve any vanishing native languages and language diversities as the native people could use computers to record their language. It can also be a tool for making dictionaries. Additionally, David Harrison said that if linguistics were taught at the high school level, it could help recruit more prospective linguists. Having more trained linguists can help document the extinct languages before they disappear in humanity.
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