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In linguistics, language death (also language extinction, linguistic extinction, and sometimes pejoratively as linguicide) is a process that affects speech communities where the level of linguistic competence that speakers possess of a given language idiom is decreased. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields Speech community is a concept in Sociolinguistics that describes a more or less discrete group of people who use language in a unique and mutually accepted way among themselves Linguistic competence is defined as the ability of a speaker-hearer to speak and understand language in a grammatically correct manner.

Total language death occurs when there are no speakers of a given language idiom remaining in a population where the idiom was previously used (i. e. when all native speakers die). A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth Language death may affect any language idiom, including dialects and languages. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them

The study of language loss at the individual level focuses on what is lost - a first language (L1) or a second language (L2) - and where it is lost - in an L1 or L2 environment. Language attrition is the loss of a first or second Language or a portion of that language by individuals it should be distinguished from language loss within a community (the A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth A second language (L2 is any Language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1

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Types of language death


Language death may manifest itself in one of the following ways:

The most common process leading to language death is one in which a community of speakers of one language becomes bilingual in another language, and gradually shifts allegiance to the second language until they cease to use their original (or heritage) language. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them Language shift, sometimes referred to as language transfer or language replacement or assimilation, is the progressive process whereby a speech community This is a process of assimilation which may be voluntary or may be forced upon a population. A region or society where several different groups are spontaneously assimilated is sometimes referred to as a Melting pot. Speakers of some languages, particularly regional or minority languages, may decide to abandon them based on economic or utilitarian grounds, in favour of languages regarded as having greater utility or prestige. Languages can also die when their speakers are wiped out by genocide, disease, or the rare event of devastating natural catastrophe. Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction in whole or in part of an ethnic racial religious or national group A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions and can be deadly

A language is often declared to be dead even before the last native speaker of the language has died. If there are only a few elderly speakers of a language remaining, and they no longer use that language for communication, then the language is effectively dead. A language that has reached such a reduced stage of use is generally considered moribund. [1] The process of attrition occurs when intergenerational transmission of a "heritage language", mother tongue or native language has effectively stopped. A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth This is rarely a sudden event, but a slow process of each generation learning less and less of the language, until its use is relegated to the domain of traditional use, such as in poetry and song. For example, a family's adults may speak in an older native language, but when they have children, they may not pass on this language, and therefore the language dies in that family. One example of this process reaching its conclusion is that of the Dalmatian language. Dalmatian is an extinct Romance language formerly spoken in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and as far south as Kotor in Montenegro

Language attrition

Main article: Language attrition

Language attrition is the loss of a language or portion of a language, by either a speech community or an individual. Language attrition is the loss of a first or second Language or a portion of that language by individuals it should be distinguished from language loss within a community (the Language attrition is the loss of a first or second Language or a portion of that language by individuals it should be distinguished from language loss within a community (the Four areas of loss are defined by what is lost, the first language (L1) or the second language (L2), and where it is lost, in the L1 or L2 environment. [2]

Sociolinguistic causes

Sociolinguistics may play a role in language death if the constructions of society fail to support linguistic diversity. Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of Society, including cultural norms expectations and context on the way Language is used Language policies may be used to protect languages from extinction, and terms such as “linguistic human rights” have welcomed an increasing awareness of the socio-strategic dichotomy of natural rights and linguistic freedom. Linguistic rights (or language rights or linguistic human rights) are the human and Civil rights concerning the individual and collective Lack of awareness is arguably a prominent cause of language death, when native speakers of the dominant language fail to recognize the contributing aspects of a multi-lingual community, and in turn, the language policies restrict rather than protect the minority language. When the resources for linguistic maintenance lessen and socio-economic stability relies heavily on proficiency in the dominant language, an extinction of the minority language is plausible.

Consequences on grammar


During language loss--usually referred to as obsolescence in the linguistic literature literature--changes caused by language death often result. These changes can be of several types, including:

Language revitalization

Main article: Language revitalization

Sometimes language death can be reversed, as has happened with the Hebrew language in Israel. Language revitalization is the attempt by interested parties including individuals cultural or community groups governments or political authorities to recover the spoken use of a However, the success of such programs is rare, with the case of Hebrew being one of the few large-scale language revival process that has achieved some degree of success, despite the fact that it was extinct in everyday use for an extended period, and was only used as a liturgical language. The revival of the Hebrew language was a process that took place in Europe and Israel at the end of the 19th century and A sacred language, or liturgical language, is a Language that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life

Other cases of language revitalization which have seen some degree of success are Welsh and Hawai'ian. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic The Hawaiian language (Hawaiian ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i) is an Austronesian language that takes its name from Hawai'i, the largest island in the tropical

Language loss and language acquisition

Some linguists have suggested a comparison between language death/attrition phenomena and language acquisition, where language death is viewed as a kind of language acquisition in reverse. One hotly debated issue is whether the biological contribution includes capacities specific to language acquisition often referred to as Universal grammar. Together, language loss and language acquisition can co-exist when a speaker acquires a second language and fails to exercise and preserve the first. This process is often noted as a shift to monolingualism, when one relies on a temporal identity to better adhere to social economy and linguistic hierarchy. Monoglottism ( Greek monos, "alone solitary" + glotta, "tongue language" or more commonly monolingualism or unilingualism Some linguists argue it is the “inside-language” that affects the preference of the dominant language because linguistic minorities cannot be fully aware of the language living inside themselves, and therefore take for granted the social relevance of their native language. In struggling to build identity and understand media coverage and economic benchmarks, we may often see a preference of the dominant language, and continually a loss of exercise in the minority language. Some linguistic minorities may be shocked to find their language near extinction, but the idea that even to communicate that frustration, one must raise awareness in the dominant language, reveals the preference of the dominant language for cross-cultural understanding.

Dead languages and normal language change

Linguists distinguish between language "death" and the process where a language becomes a "dead language" through normal language change, a linguistic phenomenon similar to pseudoextinction. Language change is the manner in which the phonetic, morphological, semantic, syntactic, and other features of a language are modified over time Pseudoextinction of a Species occurs where there are no more living members of that species but members of a daughter species or subspecies remain alive This happens when a language in the course of its normal development gradually morphs into something that is then recognized as a separate, different language, leaving the old form with no native speakers. Thus, for example, Old English may be regarded as a "dead language", with no native speakers, although it has never "died" but instead simply changed and developed into Modern English. Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift, completed in roughly 1550 The process of language change may also involve the splitting up of a language into a family of several daughter languages, leaving the common parent language "dead". This has happened to Latin, which (through Vulgar Latin) eventually developed into the family of Romance languages. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Vulgar Latin (in Latin sermo vulgaris, "folk speech" is a Blanket term covering the popular Dialects and Sociolects of the Latin The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all Such a process is normally not described as "language death", because it involves an unbroken chain of normal transmission of the language from one generation to the next, with only minute changes at every single point in the chain. Therefore, there is absolutely no point in time when "Latin died".

See also

References

  1. ^ Crystal, David (2000) Language Death. Ethnocide is a concept related to Genocide. Primarily the term close to Cultural genocide, is used to describe the destruction of a culture of a people as opposed Language shift, sometimes referred to as language transfer or language replacement or assimilation, is the progressive process whereby a speech community Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact An international auxiliary language (sometimes abbreviated as IAL or auxlang) or interlanguage is a Language meant for communication between people from A minority language is a Language spoken by a Minority of the Population of a country A regional language is a Language spoken in an area of a Nation state, whether it be a small area a federal State or Province, or An endangered language is a Language that it is at risk of falling out of use generally because it has few surviving speakers A list of Endangered languages (with fewer than 1000 speakers or in rapid decline According to some definitions an extinct language is a Language which no longer has any speakers, whereas a dead language is a language which is no longer spoken List of extinct languages of Africa List of extinct languages of Asia List of extinct languages in Central America and the Caribbean Language revitalization is the attempt by interested parties including individuals cultural or community groups governments or political authorities to recover the spoken use of a Many countries have a language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular Language or set of languages Linguistic Imperialism is a book by Robert Phillipson, published 1992 by Oxford University Press (ISBN 0 19 437146 8 Linguistic purism (or linguistic protectionism) is the definition of one language variety as purer than other varieties often in reference to a perceived decline Linguistic rights (or language rights or linguistic human rights) are the human and Civil rights concerning the individual and collective Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of Society, including cultural norms expectations and context on the way Language is used Cultural genocide is a term used to describe the deliberate destruction of the cultural heritage of a people or nation for political military religious ideological ethnical or Cultural hegemony is a Concept coined by Marxist Philosopher Antonio Gramsci. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  2. ^ Crystal, David (2000) Language Death. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  3. ^ Dorian, Nancy C. (1978). Fate of morphological complexity in language death: Evidence from East Sutherland Gaelic. Language, 54 (3), 590-609.

Bibliography

External links

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