How to Save Dying Languages

It is expected that as much as half of the 7,000 languages in the world will be extinct by the end of the 21st century. Languages at risk, similar to endangered animal species, are at actual danger of extinction. According to UNESCO, a language is endangered when it is socially and economically marginalized and no longer taught to children and also no longer being used in everyday life. A language is considered nearly extinct when it is spoken by only a few very old native speakers. It is a huge loss every time a language dies, says Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins, a professor in linguistics at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. “Languages hold a world of knowledge”, she says. “We lose knowledge and history and lose connection to a land (when a language is lost)” (1). Although it is indeed true that in past decades so many languages have died, communities are attempting to revitalize those on the brink. This essay will discuss how sociopolitical factors drive a language to the disappearance and what measures should be taken to preserve this phenomenon.

The disappearance of languages is not occurring abruptly. Languages are constantly being switched by communities, where are more powerful both economically and politically. Many speak a different language in this scenario — English, Mandarin, Swahili — so speaking that English is essential to accessing occupation, instruction, and possibilities. Parents sometimes decide not to teach children their heritage language, particularly in the immigrant’s groups, identifying it as a potential halt to their achievement in life. But globalization, suggests Czaykowska-Higgins, has also played a part. She argues that there would be no alternative for some organization to surrender their languages. For instance, in the 1950s and 1960s, many communities in Soviet Russia were compelled to drive their children to schools where only Russian was used to teach. Keren Rice states that languages are gone forever unless documentation exists such as sound recording. “Language is an oral medium […] it is gone if direct speakers are dead and nothing has been done to document it”, she says.

All over the world, by using new techniques they have managed to prevent languages from vanishing. There is a wide range of choices for a society, which wishes to maintain or relive its language. unquestionably, one of the most serious narratives is that of Modern Hebrew, which after decades of learning and studying only in the old-style written form was resurrected as a native language. As the national language of Ireland, the Irish have had significant official and governmental assistance. In New Zealand, Maori society created elderly-staffed nursery schools, where they were run completely in Maori, known as “kohanga reo”, “language nests”. By expanding Language nests in elementary and some secondary schools in New Zealand, Alaska, Hawaii, and elsewhere, where have been attempting to recover Languages at risk. And also in California, younger adults in societies where only a few elderly speakers still live have changed into language pupils for them. An increasing amount of meetings, workshops, and journals are nowadays offering assistance to people, schools, and society seeking language preservation.

In addition, linguists are analyzing the vocabulary and rules of the language and writing dictionaries and grammars. Because so many languages are in danger of disappearing, learning as much about endangered languages as possible by linguists can be a procedure, which will allow the knowledge to continue its existence, even though the language may disappear. In order to teach, preserve, and revival language, Linguists co-operate with societies around the world who want to maintain their languages due to offer practical and technical support. This help is based in part on the dictionaries and grammars that they write. But linguists can help in other ways, too, using their experience in teaching and studying a wide variety of languages. They can use what they've learned about other endangered languages to help a community preserve their own language, and they can take advantage of the latest technology for recording and studying languages. Researchers produce, together with translations, videotapes, audiotapes and written records of the language used in both official and unofficial settings.

As the world is changing so quickly, many languages are dying. Although lack of native speakers may sound like the main problem, if all nations don’t cooperate, many of not endangered languages may become endangered in an immediate future. Today, many English-speaking Americans are still hostile towards non-English speakers, especially Spanish ones. Extreme persecution still happens as well. Last August, a linguist in China was arrested for trying to open schools that taught his native language, Uighur. He has not been heard from since. It is important that actions be taken to save every part of a dying tongue, whether it is in written form, an audiotape or even a piece of art. This process takes time but it’s worth it since a language is a wholly unique way of looking at the world.