Welcome back; I’m so glad you’ve joined us again for this Sociolinguistics Series piece! Today, we are talking about dead (and dying) languages.
As of a few years ago, the average rate (found by averaging the historical record of language deaths) of language death was staggering: every four months, another language died. Today, they are probably fading even faster, as people increasingly lean toward more widespread languages. These dominant languages, such as English, Mandarin, and Spanish, have become so globalized that their very prominence is a reason that other languages are dying.
Why do languages die, you ask? There is a large number of reasons. Imagine a tribal clan. Maybe the Selk’nam, who settled across the Strait of Magellan of the southern tip of South America. Imagine how rich of a culture they have. Imagine how beautiful their language must be.
Now, imagine how few people are left after the Selk’nam Genocide--after European gold prospectors invaded their land and killed the tribe off. Not only did this stunt the growth of their culture, it almost wiped out their language. In fact, in 2015, there was one known speaker of the Selk’nam language; that speaker was a boy, a prodigy, who taught himself the language in hopes of tracing some of his lost roots back.
So, obviously, the death of a population of speakers is a cause for language death. Another sad reason, though, might lie in the minds of current speakers. With the rise of dominant languages, speakers of tribal tongues might not find a need--or a want--to continue speaking their native language.
Think about it: if the language of scholarship today is English, every new technology, invention, or scientific breakthrough will most likely be named, defined, and published in English. As hard as tribal villages have tried to keep their traditions, the outside world is constantly interfering. The American government and society constantly pesters Native American reservations, causing problems such as diabetes, alcoholism, and lack of education (whether these problems are caused intentionally or not, they still exist). In a sense, they have tried--and are still trying--to get Native Americans to assimilate into modern American society.
This doesn’t happen in just America. In Australia, France, South American countries--everywhere--governments are pressuring tribal people to assimilate. The Aboriginals of Australia and the Polynesian communities in the Pacific Islands face enormous economic and social consequences if they do not conform to the majority. Much of this comes in the form of discrimination.
Because of the harsh consequences people face for living secluded from modern society, many have tried to change their ways. However, by giving up their way of life, they also need to give up their language. If they are to fit into the modern world, they must keep up with the technology that they see everyday; they must learn these terms--which are usually in English--and adopt the majority language.
So, what’s a tribal member to do? Coming back to the boy who speaks the Selk’nam language--his mother was ashamed of the consequences that her heritage brought, so she deliberately kept the culture hidden from her children. As a child, she was teased and bullied for the color of her skin and the build of her physique; she only hoped that her son wouldn’t face the same conditions.
She didn’t teach her son her language. In fact, she stopped speaking her language as well. And so it goes--another language dies.
Luckily, this story has a happy ending that is only getting happier. After her son learned the tongue from examining old transcripts of speakers of the Selk’nam language, he went around to older people who were of the same descent. He was able to confirm that his learning was accurate when he had a beautiful conversation with an old woman; she hadn’t spoken the language in over eighty years, and she was incredibly moved that someone had tried to bring it back to life.
The self respect of one’s own native language is so, so important. It’s one of the key factors to keep a language alive. If, despite pressures from a modern society, people continue to take pride in their language, they can keep it alive by passing its beauty and rhythm down to their children.
Stay tuned for Part 9--more on language death!!