Comments on: Languages Die, but not Their Last Words http://digitalanalog.net/2007/09/19/languages-die-but-not-their-last-words/ Occasional Thoughts on Social Computing, Visualization and User Interface Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:28:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: David Harrison http://digitalanalog.net/2007/09/19/languages-die-but-not-their-last-words/comment-page-1/#comment-8 David Harrison Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:41:48 +0000 http://digitalanalog.net/2007/09/19/languages-die-but-not-their-last-words/#comment-8 Technology can be a bane or a blessing for small and endangered languages. Take, for example, the most basic technology that applies to language, namely writing. Many (probably most) of the world's language have no written form at all. Far from being a defect, this may actually be an advantage, because purely oral languages foster social cohesion and pose greater challenges to memory and cognition, thus sharpening both. Some endangered language communities are fully aware of literacy but have chosen NOT to adopt it for their languages. Others are rushing to adopt it, but may still be wary because literacy is a known vector for the spread of "killer" global languages at the expense of small ones. The same goes for higher level technologies, internet, unicode, software, etc. These may be viewed as a threat, an inevitability or a pathway to revitalization. Some endangered language communities (see www.firstvoices.org) are leveraging the latest technologies in the service of language revitalization. There is much talk about the "digital divide", but little acknowledgment that most human languages are oral, not written, and that they should not be dragged forcibly across the digital divide without considering the consequences for their survival. We are fortunate to live in a world where many languages are still only oral, only existing in human memory. GIven global language extinction trends, we will soon live in a world dominated by global languages, not even knowing what it is we have lost. Visit our website at www.livingtongues.org and our project site www.languagehotspots.org Technology can be a bane or a blessing for small and endangered languages. Take, for example, the most basic technology that applies to language, namely writing. Many (probably most) of the world’s language have no written form at all. Far from being a defect, this may actually be an advantage, because purely oral languages foster social cohesion and pose greater challenges to memory and cognition, thus sharpening both. Some endangered language communities are fully aware of literacy but have chosen NOT to adopt it for their languages. Others are rushing to adopt it, but may still be wary because literacy is a known vector for the spread of “killer” global languages at the expense of small ones. The same goes for higher level technologies, internet, unicode, software, etc. These may be viewed as a threat, an inevitability or a pathway to revitalization. Some endangered language communities (see http://www.firstvoices.org) are leveraging the latest technologies in the service of language revitalization. There is much talk about the “digital divide”, but little acknowledgment that most human languages are oral, not written, and that they should not be dragged forcibly across the digital divide without considering the consequences for their survival. We are fortunate to live in a world where many languages are still only oral, only existing in human memory. GIven global language extinction trends, we will soon live in a world dominated by global languages, not even knowing what it is we have lost.

Visit our website at http://www.livingtongues.org and our project site http://www.languagehotspots.org

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