Learning Journal #8

[Tanjila Islam]

Languages go extinct when the language is no longer passed down by native speakers. Sometimes this is because of globalization and cross-cultural interactions, and sometimes its simply because a small population speak the language and as a result they adapt to using dominant languages that help communicate with the larger population. Dr. Harrison talks about this when we mentions that about 80% of international business uses only three major languages. One of the ways we can prevent languages from going extinct is by recording audio dictionaries -- this helps to achieve the language and pass it down so that future generations have the opportunity to study the language. It is, however, very difficult to revive a dead language. The basic argument behind this being that the language went extinct in the first place because people stopped studying and using the language for a reason -- where it be convenience or displacement. Therefore, in order to revive a language, the certain portion of the population would have to start using a language that no one else understands and lack practical use.