Language Maintenance LING 345/640G Yuko Otsuka Language Loss      Potentially endangered Endangered Seriously endangered Moribund Extinct (Wurm 1998) Potentially Endangered    Socially and economically disadvantaged Under heavy pressure from a larger language Beginning to lose child speakers Endangered Languages   Few or no children learning the language The youngest good speakers are young adults. And Toward Extinction Seriously endangered   Moribund   Extinct   The youngest good speakers age 50 or older Only a handful of good speakers No speaker Language Loss  Factors leading to language loss      Death of speakers Social Cultural Economic Political Death of Speakers     Natural disasters Famine and drought Diseases Genocides Social Factors    Young men moving to urban center Intermarriage Aging population in the community Cultural Factors   Cultural contact affects language attitude Culturally more aggressive dominant language – Religion – Modern metropolitan culture – Technology Economic Factors  Economic advantage associated with dominant language – Job opportunity – Material wealth Political Factors      Political influences Conquest Language policy: official language Recommendations and laws Assimilatory education Language Shift Language shift Language loss   Forced language shift Voluntary language shift Why Should We Care?  Loss of a language is a loss of a culture “Every language reflects a unique worldview and culture complex” (Wurm 1991)  Any other reasons? Incentives to Speak Indigenous Languages  Secret language that their oppressors cannot speak Rallying symbol of a political and/or cultural movement Self- and Group identity  Any other incentives?   Preventing Language Loss     Documentation and archivization Intergenerational transmission Vernacularization Changing the society Language Use Not only traditional, but also modern context Not only in the classroom, but outside the classroom