Did you know that linguists have estimated that around 50% of the world’s estimated 6,000 endangered languages will become extinct within the next century (Hale et al. 6)? Languages are classified as endangered when a population of fluent speakers begin to decrease with no expected growth. Linguists go on expeditions in an attempt to revitalize these endangered languages. It is important for the revitalization of endangered languages because they create diversity, express identity, hold history, create human knowledge and are interesting (Crystal 41). Levels of revitalization of languages by linguists should be dependent on the willingness of the speakers to participate, the survival rate of various languages and the availability of resources provided from outside the community; they can help revitalize languages through documentation, assist speakers in developing community-based programs, and increase awareness once the project is finished. Collaboration from speakers is crucial in revitalizing a language because the speakers make up its culture and language. When linguists travel to foreign areas for research in endangered languages, they are considered outsiders the moment they step foot onto the land because “foreign visitors attract a great deal of attention as a result of the wealth, power, and privilege they are felt to represent” (Dobrin 44). Speakers view this relationship as an outsider-insider conflict because “language documentation projects mean something
The language I choose to write about comes from right here in the United States! Currently it is endangered with about 3,500 speakers and can be classified as Uto-Aztecan It is used amongst an Indian tribe in Utah. Since it is a Native American language, there are major efforts in order to keep it alive and keep it moving from each and every generation. There is currently a Ute Language Policy that highlights laws and regulations that protect the Ute language. In this order there are roman numerals with specific headings that tell you what topic goes with the protection of the language. In the beginning is speaks about the language being integral to their culture; how “the Ute language is a living and vital language that has the ability to
Language is a beautiful tool that can be used to unify or divide. Language brings people together but it can also tear them apart. In “Mute in an English Only World”, Chang-Rae Lee writes about how his mother was impaired from doing simple tasks such as going to the store alone because she could not speak English. Second, in “Lingua Franchise”, by Charles Foran, he shows how English is unifying people across the globe.
Mr. Treuer explains how there was several hundred of languages throughout different tribes and now there are very few that still are dying out. A main reason that the languages have died out was Native Americans being
Thesis: All three authors portray the voice of many people, who, on a daily basis, are underprivileged of speaking their own language, thus, emphasizing onto the lives of linguistic minority students around the world and how they struggle to cope in school and at home.
Scholar, Gloria Anzaldúa, in her narrative essay, “How To Tame A Wild Tongue’, speaks her many experiences on being pressured on what language to use. She then expresses how the discrimination made her to realize the ugly truth--that people reject languages that aren’t their own. She adopts logos, ethos and pathos in order to appeal toward her audience who is anyone who is not bilingual. One of the perspectives she takes on in her piece clearly expresses the relationship between language and identity and how it creates a conflict between her and the world.
The film “The Linguists” follows linguists Gregory Anderson and David Harrison on their journey to learn about and document endangered languages in Bolivia, India, Arizona, and Siberia. Through their quest, they are able to interact with some of the few remaining speakers of languages that are near death and they manage to make an impact on how these communities view their heritage language. Focusing on the moribund languages of Siberia and Arizona, it becomes evident that speakers of the heritage language feel a love for the language and the culture it represents, but went through periods of oppression and embarrassment for being speakers of a minority language that ultimately shaped their attitudes on the language.
Learning a new language seems to have only positive effects. However, for a Mexican American, accomplishing this goal brought him drawbacks in the interaction with his family. In his essay, ‘’Public and Private language,’’ Richard Rodriguez describes the difficulty in learning a new language and the sacrifice he makes to accomplish his goal. Richard Rodriguez shares the difficulty for older people, as they learn a new language; however, for younger generations is easier to learn a new language. Also, the new language creates a lack of communication for Richard Rodriguez.
The loss of languages within minority groups is a global phenomenon. It is an ongoing, fast moving process among indigenous groups in the United States. A vast majority of Native American vernaculars are nowadays only spoken by elders and as a growing numbers of children merely speak English in those modern days, the languages of their ancestors will soon be irretrievably lost as a result of language shift. According to Krauss (1996), only 20 of approximately 175 Native American languages have speakers across generations. What caused this loss of languages? Why? How can it be prevented?
This is essential in asserting the author’s creditability. This quotation explains about the fact that digital technology is effective in rekindling dying languages and scripts such as N’Ko. The story of Traore’s personal experience allows the essay to be more compelling as it helps to make Traore’s story more relatable and credible to the average audience, and awards the readers with an intriguing piece of writing. Rosenberg’s approach of using real life examples works because her audience wants to hear firsthand accounts of other cultures that have either dealt or are dealing with the issue of preserving their indigenous language. She uses the story of Traore to raise interest among audience regarding this topic. By the use of anecdotes, Rosenberg makes Traore’s story more relatable and credible to her audience of linguistic minorities.
According to the author, Leanne Hinton, who has written the article, “Bringing our Languages Home”, explains that speaking an endangered language at home is the core of language revitalization. She has visited clans conference of which Tlingit tribes is among the clans. The article addresses a specific family within the clan of Tlingit, Mischa Jackson, her husband and her ten month old daughter, Michaelyn. The two parents have the ambition to ensure that their daughter grows up knowing the indigenous language. Jackson says that she did not have enough time with her parents and even grandparents to learn the language. Her intention is to overturn that which she never experienced as she grew up and make it happen with her daughter. They speak
The film Linguists is a very unique exploration into the indigenous cultures and the prevalence of their languages. Researchers Gregory and David examine endangered languages in several regions to further understand the different ways the human mind can make sense of the world around it. Linguists covers a diverse range of topics regarding the importance of language to culture, the number of languages that are
For those languages which have no written form, when the language dies off, so does the accumulated knowledge and history of the culture. Sadly, indigenous languages around the world are dying off at an alarming rate. It is estimated that nearly half of the languages spoken today are likely to die off within the next century if steps are not taken to preserve those which still exist.
In the United States, an emphasize in learning the dominant language, English for example, can inevitably put other languages within the country in extinction. In reality, there are many other spoken languages in the United Sates, like those spoken by Native Americans, that are becoming endangered because of the immensity of more used languages. One may ask, what is an endangered language? According to Michael Cahill (Bonvillain), who has studied and researched many different endangered languages around the world, a language is endangered when "it is in fairly eminent danger of dying out." Cahill states two ways to quickly identify when a language is on its way to becoming endangered. One is when the
Linguistics has helped the revival of the language by helping the Wampanoag Indians learn the different words in the language and how to pronounce the words. They use words from the Wampanoag
Over centuries we have seen the amount and complexity of languages all across the globe reduced. If this trend continues, we could see the number of world languages potentially reduced from 6,000 to 600 in the future. Colonization and urbanization has led to the abolishment of languages spoke by smaller and less dominant civilizations. McWhorter uses the Native Americans in North America and the Aboriginal