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Joined: Mar 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
There was a fascinating AP article in our local paper today about the impending extinction of many of the world's current languages. Of the world's 6,800 languages, it says, half to 90% could be extinct by the end of the century! It explains that one reason is that half of all existing languages are spoken by fewer than 2,500 people, and that languages need at least 100,000 speakers to pass from generation to generation. They go on to mention some obscure tongues from Siberia (Udihe, 100 speakers), Amazon jungle (Arikapu, 6 speakers), and Alaska (Eyad, 1 speaker); and, also, that such well-known languages as Navajo, Maori, and Cornish are teetering on the brink. Ironically, in Cornish one of their proudest sayings is "Ne na vyn cows Sawsnak" (I will not speak English). In 1974, Manx, a language from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea disappeared with the death of its last speaker, according to the story. (If anyone has more background to offer about this isolated tongue from the British Isles I'd be intrigued to hear more, please!) And, it also says, that in 1992 a Turkish farmer's passing marked the end of Ubykh, a language from the Caucasus region with the most consonants on record, 81. And it says that eight countries account for more than half of all the languages: (in order) Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, Mexico, Cameroon, Australia, and Brazil. They conclude by saying that it's not that the extinction of languages is anything new, thousands have already disappeared, but that "the distinguishing thing is it's happening at such an alarming rate right now." This from Megan Crowhurst, chairwoman of The Linguistic Society of America's (so why isn't she on this Board?  ) endangered languages committee. The article cites war, genocide, natural disasters, adoption of more dominant languages, and government bans as all contributing to these languages' demise. Discussion?........
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315 |
Alaska (Eyad, 1 speaker)
speaking just alone?
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 53
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 53 |
My grandfather was a Professor of Linguistics and traveled through the world recording languages, trying to write them down before they disappeared. He could speak over 14 languages. He created the first dictionary for an African tribal language (the name of which escapes me at the moment). He was my idol. We need more people like this to at least record languages even if they cannot be saved from dying out. The cultural information contained within a language is immense and the world would be a pretty boring place without the diversity of many languages.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
I read somewhere that my Dad's first language (Sardinian) is also "endangered". The island of Sardinia, small though it is, has several regional variations of Sardinian, so that a person from the north of Sardinia may understand a person from the south, but they have different ways of pronouncing certain sounds. It's one of those things I wish I'd learned more of - I can more or less follow a conversation in Sardinian but I can't put together a sentence - and it's got a beautiful sound to listen to! One of my favourite things to do is to listen to my dad on the phone with his sister, and just bask in the sound of the language.  In Labrador, the Innu are trying to keep their language alive with a project where a few elders of the group are spending a lot of time with three babies, to try and teach them the language. Talk about pressure on those little ones! They will be responsible for carrying the language to future generations!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218 |
I'm saddened by the loss or extinction of anything from this earth. Indeed, I have little hope that things will get any better. As every liguist knows, language differentiation exists because of separation. What separates me from my brothers in Britain or my sisters in New Zealand? I type words in English, and they respond in English, all within a minute.
Thos languages will survive if we construct some Pyrenees and Alps Mountains around our gobalizing businesses. In America, people are always trying to be "different" but homogenization is the real movement.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218 |
I'm saddened by the loss or extinction of anything from this earth. Indeed, I have little hope that things will get any better. As every liguist knows, language differentiation exists because of separation. What separates me from my brothers in Britain or my sisters in New Zealand? I type words in English, and they respond in English, all within a minute.
Thos languages will survive if we construct some Pyrenees and Alps Mountains around our gobalizing businesses. In America, people are always trying to be "different" but homogenization is the real movement. Long live sign languages. I don't think they are going anywhere (unless there is a cure for deafness (unlikely anytime soon) and Deaf people actually decide they want to speak (even more unlikely)).
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
To anyone interested in this area of thought, I can warmly reccomend David Crystal's book on the subject, entitled (I think) Language Death. He also has sections of information on these sometimes conflicting trends in the excellent Encyclopaedia mentioned elsewhere hi, E!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328 |
http://www.msnbc.com/news/589114.asp?bt=prgyCheck out the Manx sound clips attached to the article. (Look in the Disappearing Diversity paragraph, under the interactive map)
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
Are there any projects to make recordings of these languages to preserve them? It wouldn't be too hard to sit down with speakers and record conversations and put them onto compact discs. I realize that this is not as important as saving the language from extinction, but it would be worthwhile.
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