from San Francisco Chronicle -
Human knowledge eroded as endangered languages die
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With the disappearance of languages, not only is knowledge lost, but a vital indication of a vibrant human existence - diversity. And the up keeping of diversity cannot be achieved by decrees or institutionalising a set of protocols. It has to be a "grass-root" effort involving the community. See also previous post on the UNESCO project to put together a handbook on the documentation and preservation of languages.
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Suicide or murder? Both. Globalisation? Maybe. David Crytal's "Language Death" (2000) reasons why a language dies every 2 weeks:
ReplyDelete- migration due to the urbanisation of cities?
New language in cities emerges as legitimate and "cool" culture in cities. Government incentives and legislation could exercise the control of using the legitimate language and assissinate others. These native languages cannot bridge communication as well as the official language and its speakers soon found it less relevant with their needs. In rural communities, the loss of huge influx of population to cities produces a plummet of its speakers. The older communities find it harder to preserve their language. Naturally, it leads the native languages to extinction after a few generations.
- Because of natural discourse and physical geography?
Events of natural catastrophic causes and being located in high natural disaster areas could threaten the well-being of the communities and likely reduce the number of speakers when events take place.
Or check out Jonathan Keats' equally good article on the linguistic phenomena "http://www.utne.com/issues/2004_122/features/11100-1.html