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A Detailed Synthesis of Language Death: Causes and Consequences

A Detailed Synthesis of Language Death: Causes and Consequences. Matt Billas CLCS 1103W. Facts about Language Death (Introduction). Over Past 500 Years: ½ of the world’s languages have disappeared (Janse) Of 7,000 Languages that Remain:

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A Detailed Synthesis of Language Death: Causes and Consequences

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  1. A Detailed Synthesis of Language Death: Causes and Consequences Matt Billas CLCS 1103W

  2. Facts about Language Death (Introduction) • Over Past 500 Years: • ½ of the world’s languages have disappeared (Janse) • Of 7,000 Languages that Remain: • ½ in danger of disappearing within this century (Janse) • Bottom Line: • Language death demands attention

  3. Research Questions and Goal • What is Language Death? • -Not a simple dictionary definition • -Understanding of all aspects • How Does it Occur? • Process/Mechanisms • Contributing Factors • What if anything should be done about it? • Revitalization and preservation efforts • Potential impact and consequences • Goal: • Synthesize the works of experts in the field to create a detailed solution

  4. What the Experts Say… (Process) • Gradual Process Assumption • Similarities to biological processes • Evolution, Adaptation • Native LanguageBilingualismForeign Language • Why? (Dominance, Mobility) • Seen in many publications (Mufwene, McWhorter, Janse) • Multi-Process Model (Muntzel and Campbell) • Sudden Death • Radical Death • Gradual Death • Bottom-to-Top Death

  5. What the Experts Say… (Factors) • Historical Events (McWhorter) • Neolithic Revolution • European Colonization • Imperialism, Nationalism, Capitalism • Socioeconomic (Mufwene, Janse) • Economic opportunities, migration, economic transformations, industrialization • Sociopolitical (Janse) • Government policies, repression, discrimination, war • Genocide, Natural Disasters (Crystal)

  6. What the Experts Say…(Consequences and Revitalization) • Consequences • Loss of unique expression of oneself and soul (McWhorter) • Conservation of cultural heritage, oral history (Janse, Anderson, Harrison) • Linguistic diversity (Crystal) • Loss of knowledge (human mind, natural world) (Crystal, Anderson, Harrison) • Revitalization Efforts • Education, Media, Govt. (McWhorter, Janse) • Role of linguists, Research (McWhorter, Janse, Crystal) • Hotspots and technology (Anderson, Harrison)

  7. The Synthesis and Conclusion • Multi-Process Model vs. Gradual Death • More encompassing • Supported by historical examples • Factors • All of those mentioned by authors • Historical Events, Socioeconomic, Sociopolitical • Revitalization and Consequences • Education, Media, Technology, Govt., Linguists • Question: Are these efforts necessary? • If Language death is natural…Should it be stopped?

  8. References Anderson, Gregory and K. David Harrison. “Global Language Hotspots.” Swarthmore.edu. 22 Oct. 2011. http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/langhotspots/index.html. Campbell, Lyle and Martha C. Muntzel. “The Structural Consequences of Language Death.” Investigating Obsolescence: Studies in Language Contraction and Death. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989. University of Hawaii. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. 181-195. <http.www2.hawaii.edu>. Crystal, David. “Millennium Briefing: The Death of Language.” Prospect Nov. 1999: 56-59. DavidCrystal.com. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. <http://www.davidcrystal.com/‌David_Crystal/articles.htm>. Janse, Mark. “Introduction.” Language Death and Language Maintenance. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2003. Academia.edu. McWhorter, John C. “Most of the World’s Languages Went Extinct.” Making Sense of Language. Ed. Susan D. Blum. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. 192-205. Mufwene, Salikoko S. "Language Birth and Death." Annual Review of Anthropology. 33 (2004): 201-222. University of Chicago Humanities. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. <http://humanities.uchicago.edu>.

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