SDLC 105: Learning Journal #7

[Timaj Yusuf]

The New York Times article about the verge of extinction of a Native American language called Siletz Dee-ni reminded me of my own tribal language that is spoken by my parents. Languages die when the speakers of the language are very few, and when there is no written record of the language. It is much more common for oral languages to die permanently, because there is no proof that it once existed. For this reason the Siletz tribe, like many other tribes with oral languages, is trying to create a dictionary to preserve it. When a language is only spoken by a handful of people (or even more than a handful) and is not seen as useful, it easy for it to get lost generation after generation. This is especially common in children who have immigrant parents. If the language is not spoken at home, it will most likely not be part of their vocabulary and as the family line continues, the language will no longer be a part of the norm.