According to most linguists, more than half of the worlds languages are currently endangered. There are many small populations that have either been occupied by foreign populations and forced to speak another language, or simply do not have enough native people living left to be able to keep their language alive for much longer. Also, often times, the native languages are held in low esteem, like some of the languages we saw in the movie 'the linguists'. It is also difficult with the multiracial world we currently live in. Endangered languages are spoken by people who are native and only speak that language, using it in their everyday life (Lovetoknow Corp. ,1996).
The languages that historically have been popular and looked highly upon, such as english, spanish, Japanese, and chinese, are most commonly used and widely spoken, which poses a very large threat to endangered languages. In a world where survival is based on monetary gains, why would one want to speak a language that disables their communication with other people who could aide in their economic advancement? This is a dangerous path for native speakers to take, because this is exactly the issue that leads to the endangerment of languages. Linguists estimate that in the next 100 years, half of the 6,500 languages that currently exist will become extinct (Rappaport, 2007). Parents are abandoning their languages in hopes of providing their children with a brighter future by forcing them to speak more universal languages. As a results, another statistic shows that "half the world's population now speaks just 10 languages" (Rappaport, 2007). Losing native languages is saddening because along with the loss of language, come the loss of culture. This also leads to a loss of information from native cultures that may be useful to our current world, such as medicinal practices, history of the culture, and its identity as a whole (Rappaport, 2007).
So as you can see, endangered languages has become a large problem in our world. But how can we all help to save these pIn an article discussing the preservation of chinese languages, professor Sun Hongkai stated, "Language is a social phenomenon and an individual choice," "People have the right to choose whether or not to speak their mother tongue. We can draw up plans and take measures to slow down the disappearance of languages but we cannot stop this trend."(Hongkai, 2001) We as humans with a care for the languages and cultures of the world need to attack this problem with a planned program that includes extensive research and empathy. In order to achieve this we need to identify the remaining speakers of an endangered language and document their knowledge. Once we have a written or archived entry for a language we need to pull out the important features of it and instill a sense of pride in them for future generations. The biggest challenge then becomes creating programs that will promote and teach non-speaking youngsters the endangered language.
Hongkai, Sun. China Daily. China Internet Information Center. 2001.
http://china.org.cn/english/2001/Nov/22210.htm
Rappaport, Scott. UC Santa Cruz Review. Saving endangered Langages. UCSC. 2007.
http://review.ucsc.edu/fall07/text.asp?pid=1626
I found it interesting when you mentioned that parents are abandoning their languages in hopes of giving their children a brighter, more successful future by encouraging them to speak a more widespread dominant language. Recently I spoke with a parent of two young boys who did just that. though English is not their native or first language, she has encouraged her children to speak English more fluently because she feels it is necessary to progress academically and socially. Because the children have become so emerged in English influence, they now choose to not speak their native language even when asked by their mother. I feel that these children have not only lost their desire to know their native language, but have also lost culture and ethnic belonging. It is possible to gain new knowledge and linguistic skills while actively preserving those of your original homeland.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about the fact how economy impacts the endangerment of a language. To know the world is slowly evolving into a survival of monetary gains, preserving a dying language is becoming difficult everyday. Fo most countries, they try to preserve the native languages. However, countries that are poor aren't able to keep their native languages alive because teaching costs money.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that parents are abandoning their languages in hopes their children has a better future. My parents didn't teach me my native Tagalog language because they fear my accent may end up becoming less professional when I grow up. They wanted me to sound proper. However, they're regretting their decision now because trying to communicate with my family in the Philippines has been very difficult for me.