Languages go extinct when people cease to speak it in daily life whether by the replacement or domination of another more universal language or in combination with the lack of rising generations learning and speaking the language. In the interview with David Harrison, we learned of one of the endangered Native American languages to actually be one of the more common languages. This particular language had previously driven out other Native American languages when several Native American tribes were forced to live in the same space by colonists and due to the advantage of their larger quantity of people that language became the main way of communication between the people. We see languages go extinct due to the convenience of being able to communicate with more people, becoming more obsolete in the fast paced modern world. More universal languages as well as the reluctance or indifference of the next generations to preserve the language and teach it to the next generations also contribute to dying languages. This indifference is aided by social constructs such as school for Native Americans that were intended to stamp out their Native American ways.
Although universal languages provide more convenience, the death of a language results in the death of a culture full of different perspectives of the world and different ways to describe it. We lose one more way to connect with people on a different level. To prevent this from happening, linguists can help preserve a language by documenting and recording the language. Although, the oral speakers of a language may one day die the written and verbal transcripts can be kept to teach later generations who may revive it. Linguists can also encourage oral speakers of a language to teach the younger generations as well as share the database of language over the internet to those across the world to learn as well.
In conclusion, although a 'dead' language may never regain the life it once had, there are certainly some parts of it that can be revived through the teaching and sharing of it to the younger generation everywhere.
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