Endangered languages, sociolinguistics, and linguistic sentimentalism

In sociolinguistics, a recurrent theme is the need not only to document threatened languages, but to ensure somehow that they will continue to be used. The basic trope is that of 'language death', analogous to the extinction of species. In fact, languages do not die but are abandoned by their users, usually for a more widely spoken language. In a basically sentimentalist view, linguistic diversity is believed to increase cultural diversity, while equal treatment of language groups is expected to mitigate inequality between and within these groups. This is not so. On the contrary, the promotion of minority, local and immigrant languages, all too often ill-equipped for contemporary usage, only serves to strengthen the position of the dominant language as the only common idiom: the more languages, the more English. This occurs in post-Apartheid South Africa as well as in the extending European Union.

African languages have played an important role in the development of linguistic theory but their role in the fields of historical linguistics and linguistic typology has been less prominent. Africa’s linguistic diversity has been long underestimated given the dominance of the four-family model proposed by Joseph Greenberg. Criticism of this model has long held among specialists in some of Africa’s smaller and lesser-known language families, but has only recently become more widely acknowledged among linguists. Archaeologists, geneticists, and others continue to model African prehistory based on African linguistic classifications, which are outdated and which have failed to withstand scrutiny. This teaching and learning guide suggests a program to train scholars in recognizing and evaluating the standards by which various African language classifications have been made. Africa’s linguistic diversity will be shown to be far greater than what is suggested by the four-family model.

The extinction of local languages in West Kalimantan and North Maluku is a growing concern. This study address the following questions: 1) How diverse are the local languages in West Kalimantan and North Maluku? 2) What is the current condition of these local languages? 3) How can the extinction of these languages be prevented? This research utilizes a comparative study method with a descriptive qualitative approach, focusing on the status of local languages in these regions. Data was collection through literature review, observation, interviews, and documentation. The findings indicate that many local languages in these areas are on the brink of extinction, primarily due to the diminishing number of speakers. Additionally, the dominance of the national language, Indonesian, has pushed local languages aside, especially among the younger generation who prefer using Indonesian in daily interactions. Despite this, the use of local languages remains strong within families and communities If immediate action is not taken, these languages ​​will likely become extinct in the coming decades. This research emphasizes the need for proactive measures to preserve these languages.

In the contemporary context of world-wide language endangerment, of linguistic imperialism and regression of minority languages, it is of vital importance to take initiatives for the maintenance and protection of linguistic biodiversity. Languages that become extinct are a major loss, not only for the communities concerned but also for humanity in general. The role of linguists should not be confined to documentation and recording of threatened languages, but should be extended to policies aimed at the revitalization of languages in the process of obsolescence and extinction, and to programs for stimulating language awareness and language cult. Although practical work and immediate political interventions remain the most urgent tasks, there is also need for a theoretical discussion on the value of language maintenance and preservation. It is important to define adequately the basic concepts to be used in discussions, as well as in scholarly and "bureaucratic" writings in the field of language endangerment. The aim of the present paper has been to clarify the concepts of 'language obsolescence' and 'language death', with an eye at offering a general characterization and typology of both phenomena. Accurate information on the causes and contextual factors involved in language obsolescence and language death can help to elaborate a theoretically coherent frame for construing open-minded language policies and for arousing a widespread feeling of respect for the linguistic rights of speech communities, however small and unprotected they may be.

The Zambian linguistic landscape is deliberately designed in such a way that each of the ten provinces of Zambia has a dominant language accorded the status of regional official language with speakers of other minority languages mandated to use it for all local official transactions. This paper examines the factors contributing to language endangerment and loss of vitality of minority languages, specifically the indigenous languages of Zambia whose native speakers live in the close proximity to the cities. A case study was conducted in the local villages on the outskirts of two cities of Zambia; Kabwe and Ndola. Around Kabwe town Swaka native speakers were selected while in Ndola on the Copperbelt, Lamba language speakers were equally selected for this study. This study was conducted to find out the language attitudes, domains of language use and mother tongue and regional lingua franca proficiency of these native speakers. A questionnaire was used to elicit the participants’ language proficiency, preference and domains of language use. Interviews and observations were used to find out language attitudes and reasons for language choice by participants. The results of this study show that the regular contact of native speakers of the minority languages with the city has negatively affected the vitality of the local languages in villages around these cities. Increase in mobility of people from other regions in search of employment, exchange of goods and information coupled with entertainment to and from cities has driven a powerful trend towards the extinction of native languages in the villages closer to big cities. The study has also revealed that if the owners of industries, mines and other multinational investors do not give employment priorities to locals and continue employing and recruiting workers from other regions, local languages within the investment areas will gradually go into total extinction.

The importance and effects of colonization and globalization cut across nations. Language is seen as a medium of developing communication across cultures and nations. We examine the impact of colonization on language shift, language endangerment, language extinction and linguicide on languages in the Americas and Africa with reference to Ghanaian languages. The paper looks at the effect of European hegemony on other languages and the areas that are much affected like indigenous languages, culture, religion, education, and the economy. It further miens at methods that should be used to create the awareness of linguicide through linguistic decolonization, language maintenance, and revitalization. It concludes that despite attempts to use the electronic medium for information sharing in local African languages, these have been corrupted by the imperialist languages such as French, English, and Portuguese.

It is a feature of the twenty-first century that world languages are displacing local languages at an alarming rate, transforming social rela-tions and complicating cultural transmission in the process. This language shift the gradual abandonment of minority languages in favor of national or international languages is often in response to inequalities in power, signaling a pressure to conform to the political and economic structures represented by the newly dominant languages. In its most extreme form, language shift can result in language death and thus the permanent loss of traditional knowledge and lifeways. To combat this, indigenous and scholarly communities around the world have undertaken various efforts, from archiving and lexicography to the creation of educational and cultural programs. What works in one community, however, may not work in another. Indeed, while the causes of language endangerment may be familiar, the responses to it depend on highly specific local conditions and opportunities. In keeping with this premise, the editors of this volume insist that to understand language endangerment, researchers and communities must come to understand what is happening to the speakers, not just what is happening to the language. The eleven case studies assembled here strive to fill a gap in the study of endangered languages by providing much-needed sociohistorical and ethnographic context and thus connecting specific language phenomena to larger national and international issues. The goal is to provide theoretical and methodological tools for researchers and organizers to best address the specific needs of communities facing language endangerment. The case studies here span regions as diverse as Kenya, Siberia, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Venezuela, the United States, and Germany. The volume includes a foreword by linguistic anthropologist Jane Hill and an afterword by poet and linguist Ofelia Zepeda.

From the drastic changes of twentieth-century modernization, Japan is experiencing a visible and public recognition of the diversity of languages and new awareness about language, ethnicity and ways of belonging in Japanese society. Bilingualism is emerging as a key instrument of social change. It is being reformulated both as a way of being in multicultural society and as a platform for vigorous discussion about educational needs and practice. In 2017, the number of Japanese first language speakers was reported to be 128 million. This number includes, crucially, speakers of mixed linguistic and ethnic background as well as non-Japanese nationality. Keywords in the evolution of bilingualism in Japan include language standardization and assimilation to the Japanese language, the presence of the nikkeijin (immigrants of Japanese ancestry) and (Chinese-speaking) war orphan bilinguals, “internationalization” and bilingual education. Given its historic vision of social homogeneity and monolingualism, an ideology not restricted to Japan, the nation is experiencing new challenges in formulating effective frameworks for bilingual education and language education in general. These challenges encompass multiple stages and sectors of the social system and are dependent upon factors of time and resources. Bilingual education in Japan raises questions of both individual learning as well as language maintenance and language loss, language endangerment, language death and revitalization. A recurrent theme in the current sociolinguistic milieu is the nuance and layering of speakers’ personal needs (“languages are signs of belonging”) where identities are locally constructed and negotiated.

The disappearance of small languages occurs through an obligatory phase of collective natural bilingualism (i.e., bilingualism resulting from language contacts) and ends with the transition of the language community to a more widespread and promising language. The disappearance of languages is the most large-scale manifestation and realization of the desire of the language system for monolingualism; with individual natural bilingualism, this desire manifests itself as linguistic attrition. Mathematical modeling of the phenomenon confirmed the hypothesis about the instability of natural bilingualism: both the individual one, and the collective natural bilingualism providing «double» communication, are at the same time a phase of transition to monolingualism. Language keepers are monolinguals, therefore the main condition for the preservation of an ethnic language is the existence of a monolingual repository (e.g., a country where the majority of the population has one mother tongue). At the same time, monolinguals can have as many foreign languages mastered in a logical way. Optimal for the preservation of any ethnic language (not just a small one) is the monolingualism of preschoolers (indigenous language) and the introduction of the second, third, etc. languages at the school age in a logical way. Keywords: disappearance of languages, collective natural bilingualism, artificial bilingualism, language attritions, non-linear dynamics, mathematical modeling, unstable state, monolingual repository.

Interest in the disappearance of languages has developed to a point where language death and obsolescence can be viewed as a field in its own right. Recent academic publications on language endangerment, that is, the process whereby languages lose ground to other languages either because they are spoken by fewer and fewer speakers and/or because they are heavily influenced by one or more competing languages, include Crystal (2000), Dalby (2002), Harrison (2007), Maffi (2001), Nettle and Romaine (2000), Phillipson (2001) and Skutnabb-Kangas (2000). These authors basically share the same positions, though there are minor differences in the specific ways they state them. This interest is often accompanied by a 'discourse of language endangerment', which has been described by Dobrin et al. (2007: 59) as 'an ideologically charged discursive space that is kept bustling by a number of overlapping constituencies', such as linguists, minority activists, international groups, funding institutions, conservation groups and the media.

This paper examines the increasing concerns about language endangerment in Sub-Saharan Africa, and assesses the necessity and practicality of language revitalization efforts in some situations in the region in light of a number of practical problems of implementation. The paper identifies the need for a clearer paradigm of revitalization efforts, and recommends an approach that recognizes the hard reality that not all endangered languages can receive attention toward functional restoration due to the practical matters involved. The paper proposes archival preservation in such cases, while strongly supporting functional revitalization where the concerned languages a meet some suggested thresholds of viability. Key Words: African languages, language revitalization, language endanger-ment, language death.

It is clear that the overwhelming majority of languages that have been spoken by human beings are extinct, and that most are both unknown and unknowable. Issues of language loss have gained increasing attention in recent years, however, and in this chapter, four major aspects of language endangerment are explored. An overview of the nature and causes of language endangerment and language extinction is provided, and what has been labeled the ‘biological metaphor’—the idea that language endangerment is in some sense analogous to biological endangerment—is examined to determine the extent to which it is valid when applied to the case of languages. Next, the most common responses to the question, “Why does language endangerment matter?” are discussed, and a case is made that language endangerment matters a great deal for a variety of different reasons. Finally, the complex and paradoxical role of education both as a threat to endangered languages and as a potential positive force in supporting and revitalizing such languages is explored.

ABSTRACTThe relationship between technology and language endangerment has experienced a shift in attitude, whereby previously perceived as a threat to the vitality of endangered and minority languages, new technology and social media are now viewed as rich and important tools in the endeavor or language maintenance and revitalization. This paper examines several examples of how new and social media can play a role in language maintenance and revitalization and discusses practical issues relating to literacy development. Overall, it is shown that new technology and social media are beneficial for language preservation rather than causing language death.

This chapter discusses the moral and prudential value of preserving endangered languages. The chapter presents a range of reasons from both popular and philosophical sources as why we should care about the fact that minority languages go extinct—from the potential loss of scientific knowledge that might happen only to be captured in an endangered language to the role speaking a language plays in the self-conception of its speakers—before sketching his own view, according to which certain speech acts are only performable in a given language, and so language extinction can lead to silencing.

Language Endangerment