Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Example of an Endangered Language
One interesting language, which is unfortunately endangered, is the Basque Language. This language is spoken in northern Spain and southern France along the Pyrenees mountains. There is a community of about 630,000 speakers. It is not a highly endangered language however it is in decline, and most speakers alive now are quite elderly. The language is dying out for several reasons. In France, where the language has traditionally been spoken, it is not allowed to be used in any official places, this includes schools, courts and any government function. This has caused very few children to speak the language, and now most of the speakers in France are elderly. In Spain the language is somewhat more easily used. It is accepted as a co-official language along with Spanish in the communities where it is most spoken. However, even as an official language Spanish is still taking over. Most children learn the language at home, however few use the language when they get older and are far stronger in their use of Spanish. If this language dies a lot can be lost. This language is the last remaining pre-Indo-European in western Europe, and the language also has its own number system unlike any other in the world.
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I like how you picked a language that we really haven't hear about or discussed and also how you chose one that was on its way to becoming endangered because it allows to us to view the language as it decays and figure out whats really causing it. It's interesting how the restriction of the government can cause a language to become endangered.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising that a language of 630,000 speakers can be considered endangered since it has so much potential to grow. However, the number of speakers can plunge quickly to a precarious figure since this language is restricted in official domains of France and losing to Spanish in popularity. Also, I find it very interesting how many different languages all have unique number systems.
ReplyDeleteI guess this is one of the many examples when a large population doesn't help slow down language death. It's too bad that certain domains are still restricting Basque in regions of France; that will only make the language die more quickly. Hopefully linguists will be able to do something about the endangerment of Basque, especially since they have a unique number system. I think that's definitely worth preserving and studying.
ReplyDeleteThis example definitely pinpoints how utterly dismal this situation of language extinction is. Should this language become extinct, we will lose something so unique and different. Often, it seems that we get caught up in looking to the future for answers. However, we need the past to help us in that endeavor. Language is a part of the past and history. Without it, we lose an important learning aid.
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