Endangered Languages Should Be Saved
Endangered languages and languages alike all hold specific information and traditions that differentiate them from one another. Endangered languages are filled with centuries of human thinking and historical knowledge, cultural gains and traditions that provide people with a sense of identity, and they help assemble diversity in this world that brings mankind vital information to grow. Endangered languages should be saved because just like any language, they hold a vast amount of information that gives outsiders a deeper look at who these people are, what they believe in, and what they think and know about the world around them.
Language is the deliverer of human thoughts and insight through the process
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Although this may be an easy exit to avoid the issue, endangered languages are much more than they seem on the surface. At a linguist’s perspective, endangered languages must be saved because they are vital for future understandings of human interaction and thought. Given the average person doesn’t acquire the same amount of information on language as a linguist does, then the average person should be informed that endangered languages must be saved. Endangered languages are storage houses of knowledge providing a plethora of insight on the world and ways to perceive different things. Languages carry so much more than just words to communicate with as they diversify our world and offer different views to think in. Language is what makes us who we are and enhances the human mind to think differently and conceptually from …show more content…
In the view of typology, the comparison of different languages, linguists can compare and contrast languages and in turn understand people better and how communication differs around the globe. “Sure, losing an individual language doesn’t destroy everything, but each language that’s lost is one less (incredibly rich) data point which can be used to better understand how people do language, and what other ways things can be done in language. In addition, individual languages have plenty to teach us as well” (Styler). Language enables new thoughts to be brought up and as stated before from the Whorf hypothesis language shapes the way we perceive the world around us. People think differently around the world because of the way their single language allows them to think according to their environment. In the consideration of endangered languages going extinct, the diversity in ideas and conceptual views would be erased as well due to the lack of language diversity. In a bigger perspective, focusing on what the Whorf hypothesis helps to understand how diverse our world is with the way each every individual perceives the world. If endangered languages went extinct, then our world would gradually become boring and lack dissimilar ideas. In order to maintain our diverse world, endangered languages must be saved because as one
In “Why I Choose to Write in Irish, the Corpse that Sits Up and Talks Back”, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill argued for the survival of minority languages, especially her own Gaeilge (Irish) language. She compared the issue of preserving minority languages as important as the issue of the “preservation of the remaining rain forests is for biological diversity”. She fears that the death of minority languages and the dominance of English would “reduce everything to the level of most stupendous boredom”. (53) The author did not bash on the English language, only that if all other minority languages died and it was the only one that remained then the lack of diversity will just be plain dull.
Even though the dominance of a language can allow for the loss of a culture, it can also bring awareness. In schools, local community centers and other various places, foreign languages are taught, not only do non-native speakers take on these languages but native speakers do as well to keep their culture. By doing so it “revitalizes cultures and cultural artifacts through foreign influences, technologies, and markets.” (Gerdes
As anthropologists seek to understand the culture that they are studying they must overcome the language barrier. Similar to the concept of culture, “people use language to encode their experiences, to structure their understanding of the world and themselves, and engage with on...
Throughout time the flexibility of different languages within the world today are always being tossed up in the air, if there’s disadvantages or advantages to being capable of more than one language. Although all individuals have there own opinions on being able to speak fluently with different languages, there isn’t any other way to see it besides it being a huge advantage; fully appreciating the beneficial chance to be bilingual or trilingual and sometimes even more. Communicating with more than a single voice will represent who one is and where they came from. Within two articles “Speaking in Tongues” written by Zadie Smith and “How to tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzalduas’s both demonstrate the different languages they encounter. Smith looses her chance in speaking from her voice being forced upon to change without resistance while Anzalduas’s aggressively puts up a battle to be able to keep her voice. The acceptance of varies languages isn’t in everyone category, however in time we should be more accepting and realize from articles like such that’s beneficial to learn and accept the difference languages of different cultures within the world today. Although there may be struggles upon learning the knowledge to something new, its nothing but an advantage to have with one throughout a lifetime!
The Contemporary Issues in Native American Culture provides a lot of varied topics and interests. In this paper, the main issue will be the topic of tribal language preservation. How tribes are able to raise money to enhance language efforts, how tribes are working to preserve the language, and how tribes are using language to maintain cultural awareness and identity will be discussed.
Everybody can still learn their native language, but they also have to learn the other language, so people could talk to non-native people, and they can talk back. People might bring up how hard it would be to let people decide on just one language. Yes, this would be a big issue, but the language should be one that is written and spoken like when Mcwhorter says “ Japanese is enshrined as the language of not only speech but education, literature, and journalism…”(434). He is saying that this language will be around “As long as there are Japanese people meeting and raising children in Japan” (Mcwhorter 434). There are a lot of people speaking it, it 's written, and spoken that’s why it won’t die anytime soon. If people still don’t agree with, that then the United Nations could get together and decide for everybody. Any language would be hard to learn, according to Mcwhorter that “ Each language is hard in its own way”( 433). The younger you learn the language the easier it would be to learn because it 's easier for a kid to learn a language than someone that is
One outstanding challenge that the Canadian policy presents is the subjective concern towards language as both a marginal and intrinsic loss to the minority populace. The challenge is not the coexistence and complexity of multiple lang...
Evaluating an article is a good way to understand what an author wants to do and tell the readers. In his article, “Let Them Die”, Kenan Malik mentions two types of language, common languages such as English and Spanish, and dying language such as Native American language, Catawba. (Kenan Malik 85) Those dying languages are lost in every two weeks. (Masci 942) His main argument is that language death should be acknowledged rather than trying to keep it. His ideas that include the main argument which common language is better than dying language are explained by using many examples such as linguist’s quote and references. Based on some ideas and examples, he tries to tell readers that common language has more advantages than dying language.
For this summary I watched a video called Voices of the World: The Extinction of Language and Linguistic Diversity. The video starts off with how people believe that there are about 6, 000 languages. David Crystal talks about how with all these different languages half of them are endangered of becoming extinct. Each different language offers a different point of view of the world and culture. He said that if different languages are lost then “we lose the meaning what is it to be human.”
In the United States, an emphasize in learning the dominant language, English for example, can inevitably put other languages within the country in extinction. In reality, there are many other spoken languages in the United Sates, like those spoken by Native Americans, that are becoming endangered because of the immensity of more used languages. One may ask, what is an endangered language? According to Michael Cahill (Bonvillain), who has studied and researched many different endangered languages around the world, a language is endangered when "it is in fairly eminent danger of dying out." Cahill states two ways to quickly identify when a language is on its way to becoming endangered. One is when the "children in the community do not speak the native language of their parents, and the other is when there are only a small number of people left in the ethnolinguistic community" that know how to speak the language (Bonvillain). In specific, the Cherokee language fits into the category of an endangered language in the United Sates because less and less speakers speak it and because it is taught less often to younger generations as well. Although Cherokee, a language containing its own rules in grammar, morphemes, syntax, and phonetics, was once a language spoken in vast areas around the United States by native peoples, the language struggles to survive albeit historical foreign attack and current domination of other languages such as English.
One who is hard of hearing might only be able to communicate through sign language. What becomes of them if no one near can understand them? This demonstrates the importance of knowing multiple languages whether it is Sign Language, Spanish, French, Dutch, Mayan, or any other translation of words. Language is a fundamental component of any interpersonal relationship. Cultures throughout history have crumbled as a result of language barriers, leaving only artifacts and records to tell their story. This has been exhibited in various indigenous civilizations across the globe, such as the Coast Miwok language, which had been spoken from the San Francisco Bay to Bodega Bay. The various languages spoken throughout the world demand a medium of translation
This essay will discuss the causes of language death and if endangered languages are worth saving. This essay agrees that endangered languages are worth saving and that many factors contribute to language death. Firstly the essay will explain what language death is and the meaning of what is an endangered language. Secondly discuss language death and language birth. Thirdly discuss the causes of language death. Lastly, critically discuss if endangered languages are worth saving. The purpose of this essay is to show that language death is much higher than language birth.
The influence of our inherited cultural and linguistic heritage is perhaps less influential than the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the society we live in. The societal forces of our personal micro-environments largely impact who we are, how we see ourselves, and how we speak.
Language influences the view of the world, embodies a person’s essential for survival to communicate with people, interpret ideas, and have perspective about cultural and traditional knowledge. However, Language extinction is a huge element in every day’s life. Because language extinction also means the culture, religion, social values, and its history is slowly getting loss at the same time. There are many factors to language extinction due to the population, educational, and economic principles. Melanesian is one of the rapid extinction of the world's languages that are endangered before they disappear completely.
Even though there are advantages as well as disadvantages, the need for international language for communication, politics, economics and security is necessary and English is the best “language candidate” for that function. English is a language spread all over the world and it is used by millions and millions of speakers. According to my opinion, people should use English as a tool to communicate with all cultures but every country must keep their culture and language is a great part of it. In conclusion, language defines identity of a country and everyone should keep their language and explore others.