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Does it really matter If a few thousand minor languages disappear?
A linguist argues that the future will look better If we preserve language diversity.
Many linguists predict that at least half of the world's 6,000 or so languages will be dead or dying by the year 2050. Languages are becoming extinct at twice the rate of endangered mammals and four times the rate of endangered birds. If this trend continues, the world of the future could be dominated by a dozen or fewer languages.
Even higher rates of linguistic devastation are possible. Michael Krauss, director of the Alaska Native Language Center, suggests that as many as 90% of languages could become moribund or extinct by 2100.
According to Krauss, 20% to 40% of languages are already moribund, and only 5% to 10% are "safe" in the sense of being widely spoken or having official status. If people "become wise and turn it around," Krauss says, the number of dead or dying languages could be more like 50% by 2100, and that's the best-case scenario.
The definition of a healthy language is one that acquires new speakers. No matter how many adults use the language, if it isn't passed to the next generation, its fate is already sealed. Although a language may continue to exist for a long time as a second or ceremonial language, it is moribund as soon as children stop learning it. For example, out of 20 native Alaskan languages, only two are still being learned by children.
Leanne Hinton of the University of California at Berkeley agrees with Krauss. Hinton, a member of the board of Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival, believes there could be a turnaround if the drive to save native languages continues. However, she says, "most languages will probably not be able to provide the resources and motivation necessary to keep their language alive. So far as I can see, we can expect the twenty-first century to involve ever greater language shift away from minority languages."
Linguists scramble to document as many dying languages as possible, but a lack of resources forces them to focus on the most-severe cases. Inevitably, some languages will disappear before they can be written down. And once an unwritten language is...