Endangered Languages

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

While there are an estimated 7,000 languages spoken around the world today, one of them dies out about every two weeks, according to linguistic experts struggling to save at least some of them.

Losing languages means losing knowledge, says K. David Harrison, an assistant professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College.

"When we lose a language, we lose centuries of human thinking about time, seasons, sea creatures, reindeer, edible flowers, mathematics, landscapes, myths, music, the unknown and the everyday."

As many as half of the current languages have never been written down, he estimated.

Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico--40 languages. Oklahoma has one of the highest densities of indigenous languages in the United States. A moribund language of the area is Yuchi, which may be unrelated to any other language in the world. As of 2005, only five elderly members of the Yuchi tribe were fluent.

The entire article is located: http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/endangered_languages

_______________________________________________________

The loss of language is a very deep loss....an existential loss....for it is greatly married to one's culture and identity. Without one's language....a person transforms into something entirely different.

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

in 2004....the same was being said concerning the lakota/sioux language.

oglala, s.d.

the lakota language, once spoken exclusively in most american indian homes and communities on the pine ridge indian reservation, is no longer learned at a rate that keeps up with the death of fluent-speaking elders.

"nationally, it's critically endangered," said wayne h. evans, a professor in the school of education at the university of south dakota.

"the lakota language status is critical to the point of being lost," added stephanie charging eagle, graduate department director at oglala lakota college.

at loneman school on the reservation, students speak, think and learn almost entirely in english, a dramatic change from just a couple of decades ago, according to officials.

"twenty-six years ago, 90 percent of the student body were fluent speakers," said leonard little finger, cultural resource educator at loneman. "today those statistics have flip- flopped."

one reason for the decline is the language is no longer valued, said deborah bordeaux, principal at loneman school. as an administrator, she works to achieve federal and educational standards of a bureau of indian affairs school. but keeping and maintaining the lakota language isn't one of those standards, she said.

"we as a people need to validate that. we need to value the language to save it," she said.

http://www.lakhota.org/html/aparticle02-04.htm

but elsewhere, there are great stirrings once again to return back to the language....to place value upon it once more....in order to save it.

here is one current example:

mr. his horse is thunder says tribes rarely make their language important in the day-to-day lives of their members and the lakota are no exception. "most tribal governments meet and talk in english. in schools, english is the primary language," he says. "in indian schools there are classes in indian language - lakota language here - but that is the only place in the whole school where indian language is spoken. street signs are written in english. almost everything is in english."

the newly-elected tribal chair would like to see that change on the standing rock reservation. "if we are going to save our languages, we need to show our children that it has value. that it is not something you can get by without."

making lakota the primary language on the standing rock reservation will take some doing. currently, only 25 to 30 percent of tribal members are fluent. ron his horse is thunder is not among them. but he made a campaign promise to learn the language if elected, so government meetings could be conducted in lakota. he renewed that pledge when he took office in october, saying if he has not learned the language by the time his term is up, he would not seek re-election in 2009.

http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/native/family_lifestyle_traditions/voa_lakota_language_1105.asp

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

Another current example (saving a culture by saving its language).

Washo elders help compile online dictionary

Friday, September 21, 2007

Elders of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California are working with a linguist on an online dictionary of the Washo language.

Ramona Dick, 74, learned Washo from her grandparents. But her sons and daughters don't know the language, putting at risk of dying out.

Alan Yu, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, hopes to change the situation. With a $160,000 federal grant, he is working with elders like Dick on an online dictionary that will be finished in 2009.

Of the tribe's 1,500 members, only about 20 or 30 can speak Washo fluently.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-washo21sep21%2C0%2C1852254.story