Learning Journal #7

How do languages go extinct? Respond to the reading, reflecting on what happens when a language dies. How can linguists help preserve a language? Can a language ever be brought back to life? 

A language goes extinct when its usage becomes minimal or nonexistent and when there are no longer any living native speakers of the language. As mentioned in Johnson’s article, languages may also go extinct when geopolitical influences inhibit the prosperity of a language: take for instance the example of how government boarding schools were used by US state officials as a tool to eliminate indigenous languages and customs. As such, political influences can force languages into extinction. Furthermore, languages may become endangered when dominant, foreign institutions exert their cultural linguistic influence over less prominent languages, forcing such languages into a liminal stage between existence and extinction.

As Johnson details, the Siletz Dee-ni language was characterized as a terminatedlanguage by the federal government in the ‘50s but regained federal recognition in the ‘70s after there was a revitalization movement of the language via cultural factors like song and dance. The author further details how linguists have engaged in innovative practices to preserve the language by recording native speaking, building dictionaries, and – more recently – creating online dictionaries for various audiences around the world. An example of an online dictionary of this sort is the “Siletz Dee-ni Talking Dictionary”, which, as Johnson’s mentions, was created by linguists, students, and indigenous community members. Another way to help a language regain its strength is through education, as is being done with the introduction of Siletz Dee-ni in the local public charter school. Overall, linguists, community members, and policy-makers have the ability to revive languages and keep them from extinction by allocating resources to language programs – that create dictionaries and online resources for language competency – and to schools or community centers that provide lessons and training in the target language. With proper resources and dedication, deadlanguages do have the potential to be brought to life. Hebrew was a language that, for centuries, did not have a native speaker until it was revived in the 19thcentury. Now millions of people speak Hebrew around the world: it is even one of the official languages of Israel. As such, it is not impossible for a dead language to be brought back to life if people properly engage in revitalization efforts to revive dead languages.

           

 

Bibliography

Johnson, Kirk. “Siletz Language, With Few Voices, Finds Modern Way to Survive.” The New     York Times, 3 Aug. 2012. NYTimes.com,https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/us/siletz-language-with-few-voices-finds-modern-way-to-survive.html.

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