Endangered Languages

LING 400

Winter 2010

Overview

Linguistic diversity

Linguistic extinction

Consequences of linguistic extinction

The role of linguists

Please turn off your cell phone

Estimating linguistic diversity

6912 languages (2005: http://www.ethnologue.com)

Spoken and signed languages

Counting difficulties Dialect vs. language issue Poorly documented languages

Distribution of world’s languages

area % of world’s lgs

Europe 3

Americas 15

Africa 30

Australia, Pacific 19

Asia 32

Data 1988-1992

Diversity in terms of language families

# remote time-depth families

Americas: 122-141

Australia, Pacific: 47

Europe, N. Asia: 14-15

Africa: 5-14

Nichols 1990. Each dot = 1 family of apx. 3000-yr time-depth

Linguistic extinction

Diversification is normal < incremental changes over time to grammar,

lexicon

Extinction is also normal

Some extinct languages of Europe Gaulish, Manx, Cornish (all Celtic) ‘Pictish’ (formerly spoken in Scotland) Etruscan (formerly spoken in Italy)

Historical rates of linguistic survival

Until recently

Linguistic diversity has been increasing (Nichols 1990)

5-6000 years later … 1.6 languages < 1 Ancestor Lg

Projections of extinction

Krauss 1992: 50-90% loss of world’s languages in coming centurySummer Institute of Linguistics (www.ethnologue.com) (2006)

516 of the world’s languages are ‘nearly extinct’, “only a few elderly speakers are still living”

Africa: 46 languages Americas: 170 languages Asia: 78 languages Europe: 12 languages Pacific: 210 languages

‘Moribund’ (or ‘critically endangered’) language: no longer being learned by children‘Endangered’ language: becoming moribund

North America (north of Mexico)

At first contact with Europeans, apx. 400 languages

In 1996, 208 languages (Goddard 1996) 62 families and isolates 71% spoken by middle-aged and older 14% spoken by parents of young children 15% being learned by children as L1

What happened?

Language shift

W W W

W-e W-e W-e W-e

W-E W-E W-E

E-w E-w

E

1900? 2010

W- First language is Witsuwit’en w = know some Witsuwit’en

E- First language is English e = know some English

e.g. in Moricetown, B.C.

Why does language shift occur?Differences in power and prestige

Group A (and their language) Group B (and their language)

Bombardment of dominant language Media: TV, radio, newspaper Local non-speakers

grandchildren etc.

Result? Incentives to learn group A language No incentives to learn group B language

Speaker genocideDisease Est. 50-90% of Native American population died

from epidemics brought by Europeans measles, flu, whooping cough, intestinal infections,

(epidemic form of) TB, smallpox…

War 300 < 350 Lakhota killed at Wounded Knee

(1890)

Tsek’ene

(moribund) about 20 speakers remaining

Fort Ware, Tsay Keh, McLeod Lake

Why is Tsek’ene moribund?Probably never many speakers

Language suppression in education many children sent to Lejac Residential School

Lejac Residential School

•1922-1976

•children punished for speaking languages other than English

Fort Ware

Speech community destruction

1968 W.A.C. Bennett dam on Peace R.

Williston ‘Lake’

Fort Grahame people went to Mackenzie and

Prince George Fort Ware lower mainland

of B.C. Ingenika

Tsay Keh

Consequences of lg loss

Unity Texas insurance company

owner fired 3 Spanish speakers for chatting in Spanish during work day. Owner: “The only thing I

asked was, ‘Let’s work together in a language we can all understand’.”

Texas Workforce Commission sided with owner, denied the women unemployment benefits

Consequences of lg loss

Savings to taxpayers Canada: all federal services in French, English

Canadian customs form: 6 (4?) pages U.S. customs form: 2 pages

Consequences of lg loss

Better socio-economic outlook In 1995, ‘an Amarillo judge sparked a national

controversy when he ordered a Mexican-American woman involved in a custody dispute to speak English to her 5-year-old daughter. Otherwise, he said, “You’re abusing that child and you’re relegating her to the position of housemaid.”

The judge later issued an apology to the woman and to “the profession of housekeeping.”

Consequences of lg loss

Loss of traditional knowledge Linguistic Biological Geographic

Scientific consequences for linguistic theories 6900 languages, 200 families

vs. 20 languages, 5 families

Consequences of lg lossCultural Lance Forshay: “ASL is the key to the heart of

Deaf culture...” Rosa Gonzalez (Spanish): “This is what I am.” Vancouver BC 2010 Olympic opening ceremony

Musqueam, Squamish First Nations welcomed in their languages

Linguists and endangered languages

What are linguists doing?

What should/shouldn’t linguists be doing?

‘concentrated regions of the world having the highest level of linguistic diversity…, the highest levels of endangerment, and the least-studied languages’ (http://www.livingtongues.org/hotspots.html#NGmagmap)

Michael KraussLinguists need to support endangered lgs Organize documentation

effort Advocate for languages Create pedagogical

materialsLinguistics needs to support such linguists Rethink grad school

requirements Rethink criteria for

promotion and tenure

1970 workshop on Eskimo languages

Peter LadefogedLinguists should document with ‘professional detachment’Linguists shouldn’t meddle in politics If speakers view monolingualism in superstratum as essential, linguists shouldn’t try to dissuade

SummaryMinority languages endangered moribund extinct Historically, 25% language extinction in 5000-

6000 years Currently, 50-90% extinction in 100 years

Diverse causes

Negative consequences are scientific and cultural

Disagreement on what linguists should do

QuestionIn your opinion, what should linguists do for endangered languages? Document only? Advocate for survival? Help teaching effort?