Endangered Languages: Causes Of Language Disappearance And Countermeasures

Language is a very important communication tool for people. However, some words are no longer used for various reasons, and many words are in danger of disappearing. According to Michael Klaus, director of the Alaska Native Language Center, by 2100 as many as 90% of languages may become extinct. 1 Klaus states that 20- 40% of languages are already decreasing. Language is an important element in protecting knowledge, culture and identity, but it is undergoing various reforms as it is disappearing due to people’s movement, economic situation, and political points.

Language is an important element of knowledge and culture and leads to the protection of identity. There is information about plants and wildlife that is not in a reference book, as it is conveyed from person to person and human knowledge is important. For example, when studying plants and animals known to the Mexican Huichol, various information can be obtained by listening to stories from the Huichol people. You can hear about the habits and food of the plants and animals throughout the year 2 . These are pieces of information that cannot survive without hearing from people. In addition, Language affects not only knowledge but also culture. According to Bogre Udell, “【w】hen humanity loses a language, we also lose the potential for greater diversity in art, music, literature, and oral traditions.” 3 In other words, the various cultural values that have been built up to date are lost and it will be impossible to make new materials, environments and people. According to Megan Davis, preserving the language of indigenous peoples is important to the whole world, “【t】o preserve the cultural identity and dignity of indigenous peoples and to preserve indigenous traditions, preserve the language of indigenous peoples. It is important to do that.” 4 In other words, protecting your identity is proportional to protecting your language. Possible reasons for language loss include people’s movement, economic factors, and political factors. Migration of people has a large impact on big changes and deaths. People who speak proto-de-European emigrated large parts of Europe and Asia 6,000-8,000 years ago. As the result, they had a negative effect on language changes and language deaths. 5 When people live in a new place, their new life, environment, tradition and language are created. The movement of people may change or disappear all languages and environments. Possible reasons for language loss include people’s movement, economic factors, and political factors. Possible reasons for language loss include people’s movement, economic factors, and political factors. For example, children who are forced to speak a second language by their parents enjoy social and economic benefits. 6 Because children think that they may struggle because they can’t speak the language well in the future, they are educated from childhood, which is the best time to learn a language well. 7 Moreover, precious words are lost by not speaking their native language. What is more, there are environmental factors that prevent people from speaking their native language. Established to eliminate traditional American Indian lifestyles and replace them with American mainstream culture, Indian boarding schools forced children to live away from their families and cultures for over four years at times. A child would have to change their name to English and speak English, or they would be punished for speaking their native language. As a result, it adversely affected children’s self-esteem and the happiness of their native language and culture. This prevented the children from speaking their native language.

Language resurrection requires learning and preserving the existing language. There is a way to revive the language by creating a new school. In Hawaii’s case, there are only 1,000 native speakers of Hawaii, and half of them are elderly people. Teaching students from grades 1 to 12 in Hawaiian is becoming more common. 8 Parents are studying Hawaiian so they can speak Hawaiian with their children at home. 9 Language persists as people continue to speak it. In addition, words can also be documented and saved. In the 20th century, several linguists documented Uktumni grammar. 10 Wilcox will also create a dictionary and record the verbal version of the dictionary, including the traditional Ukchumuni narratives, so that pronunciation of languages with complex accents will help future Ukchumni-speaking people. 11 What is more, there are ways to save and use the power of any civilization. For example, traditional songs and lyrics can be recorded by using social media channels, YouTube, and other platforms to store indigenous languages. 12 Words are important and need to be preserved using any means. Languages that are being lost due to various factors are being revived by people to convey knowledge and culture. Human memory and knowledge are a treasure trove of information, and every time a language dies, important treasures are lost. So as long as there is someone who can speak an endangered word, it should be resurrected. It is impossible to revive the word after it dies, and people need to prevent it. This will protect people’s precious culture and customs that have been built up to now.

Bibliography

1. “boarding schools.” Native words Native Warriors. accessed 12 Dec. 2019, https://americanindian.si.edu/education/codetalkers/html/chapter3.html
2. Castillo, Chang. “Language Preservation: How Countries Preserve Their Language(s).” Chang-Castillo and Associates. January 18, 2019 https://ccalanguagesolutions.com/language-preservation-how-countries-preserve-their-languages/
3. Foltz, Anouschka. “How Languages Die.” The New Republic. December 10, 2015 https://newrepublic.com/article/125501/languages-die
4. Grimes, Barbara F. “Global Languages Viability; causes, Symptoms for Endangered Languages.” https://www.sil.org/sociolx/ndg-lg-grimes.html
5. 12 Chang Castillo. “Language Preservation: How Countries Preserve Their Language(s).” Chang-Castillo and Associates. January 18, 2019 https://ccalanguagesolutions.com/language-preservation-how-countries-preserve-their-languages/
6. Strochlic, Nina. “The Race to Save the World’s Disappearing Languages.” National Geographic. April 16, 2018. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/04/saving-dying-disappearing-languages-wikitongues-culture/
7. Wetherhold, Sherley. “The Disappearing Languages of Asia.” The Article, July 9, 2012 https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/the-disappearing-languages-of-asia/259530/
8. Vaughan-Lee, Emmanuel. “Who Speaks Wukchumni?.’ The New York Times, Aug. 18, 2014 https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/opinion/who-speaks-wukchumni.html