The extinction of a language occurs when that language is no longer spoken by individuals (however few) on this planet. An example of this was referenced in the reading, as at one point Siletz Dee-ni had only five speakers remaining, and each of these speakers only knew Siletz as a secondary language. While to some extent, documentation, such as digital collections and dictionaries, can preserve a language and provide the opportunity for others to learn such a language, if nobody speaks or learns to speak a language, this language becomes extinct, with the documentation only serving as a memorial to that language. Yet this documentation can also be the key to this language's resurrection, much in the same way that the Siletz Dee-ni online dictionary has resurrected a nearly-extinct language throughout many parts of the US.
When a language dies, all the rich knowledge accompanying that language is lost to humanity. With over 7000 languages throughout the world (and half destined to die within a century), it becomes imperative that such languages are documented and preserved. These languages not only provide rich linguistic knowledge, but also scientific knowledge as well. While almost 80% of the world's wildlife has not yet been "discovered" by the western world, many near-dead languages have superior knowledge of these "undiscovered" species. To allow such languages to die would decrease the collective knowledge of the world, causing us to take a metaphorical step backwards for the sake of "westernization".
David Harrison spoke about the efforts to preserve languages, ranging from creating online dictionaries to recording current speakers to spending time living with a culture in order to acquire their language from the ground up (as Harrison himself did). These are all efforts to document an entire language, and while somewhat effective, will take manpower that linguists currently do not possess to save many of the currently dying languages. Thus, at the end of his interview, Harrison gives a call to action, stating that he is always hiring linguists for this sort of work.
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