ENDANGERED LANGUAGES AND THE LINGUIST
Some questions and facts:
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How many languages are there? 5,000 - 6,000.
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How many will there be in a hundred years???
Michael Krauss (UA Fairbanks, Alaska Native Language
Center): In a hundred years perhaps 80 - 90% of the world's languages will
be lost.
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Should we linguists care?
Ofelia Zepeda and Jane Hill:
...linguistic diversity...constitutes one
of the great treasures of humanity, an enormous storehouse of expressive
power and profound understanding of the universe. The loss of hundreds
of languages that have already passed into history is an intellectual catastrophe
in every way comparable in magnitude to the ecological catastrophe we face
today as the earth's tropical forests are swept by fire. Each language
still spoken is fundamental to the personal, social and -- a key term in
the discourse of indigenous peoples -- spiritual identity of its speakers.
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What are the rewards of working on indigenous
and other local languages?
Working on "new languages" is of crucial scientific
importance. Where would linguistic theory be without the primary work of
linguists on such languages as these?
| Southern Paiute |
Rotuman |
| Klamath |
Dyirbal |
| Warlpiri |
Nuchahnulth (Nootka) |
| Yawelmani |
Mohawk |
| Anishinabe (Ojibwa) |
Navajo .... |
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But why should we help you learn about Universal
Grammar? (the late Mike Shaw, Haisla Elder, p.c., 1970 [paraphrase])
Linguists have an obligation to give back to the
communities in which they work.
Some References: Hale, Ken. 1992. Language endangerment
and the human value of linguistic diversity. In Hale et al., 1992, pp.
35-42.
Hale, Ken, Michael Krauss, Lucille J. Watahomigie,
Akira Y. Yamamoto, Colette Craig, LaVerne Masayevsa Jeanne, and Nora C.
England. 1992. Endangered languages. Language 68: 1-42.
Zepeda, Ofelia and Jane H. Hill. 1991. The
condition of Native American languages in the United States. In R. H. Robins
and E. M. Uhlenbeck, eds., Endangered Languages (Oxford/New York:
Berg), pp. 135-155.
For information about some things you can do
about language endangerment, visit the site of the Endangered
Language Fund .
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