research paper language death

Why Language Endangerment and Language Death Matter: ‘Took away our native tongue … And taught their English to our young’

• First Online: 01 March 2019

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• Timothy Reagan 2  

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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.

From the song ‘Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)’, words and music by John D. Loudermilk and performed by, among others, Paul Revere and the Raiders.

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Reagan, T. (2019). Why Language Endangerment and Language Death Matter: ‘Took away our native tongue … And taught their English to our young’. In: Linguistic Legitimacy and Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10967-7_9

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• DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV.ANTHRO.33.070203.143852
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Language Birth and Death

• Published 15 September 2004
• Linguistics
• Annual Review of Anthropology

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Attitudes to endangered languages: identities and policies, 76 references, the portuguese language in trinidad and tobago: a study of language shift and language death, linguistic ecology: language change and linguistic imperialism in the pacific region, endangered languages: current issues and future prospects, creolization of language and culture, what is language death, on biocultural diversity: linking language, knowledge, and the environment, the rise and fall of languages, investigating obsolescence: studies in language contraction and death, the role of diffusion in the genesis of hawaiian creole, related papers.

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Digital language death

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• 1 Computer and Automation Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
• PMID: 24167559
• PMCID: PMC3805564
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077056

Of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken today, some 2,500 are generally considered endangered. Here we argue that this consensus figure vastly underestimates the danger of digital language death, in that less than 5% of all languages can still ascend to the digital realm. We present evidence of a massive die-off caused by the digital divide.

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Competing Interests: The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

Figure 1. Bimodal distribution of two-way classifiers.

Figure 2. Adjusted wikipedia size plotted against…

Figure 2. Adjusted wikipedia size plotted against number of speakers, log-log scales.

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