Sofia Perez

We are raised on a steady diet of acceptance when it comes to the circle of life. I wonder though, how often we think of the life cycles of cultures themselves. These seemingly eternal forces that dictate so much of life for so long and for so many people…can die? As chilling as this may be, we live in a time when a heartbreakingly long list of cultures are racing toward their quiet death. Embedded within these cultures, we are also witnessing the staggering loss of linguistic diversity that once existed in a time before globalization.

Much like the circle of life, we can pass this off as the ‘natural’ way of things. After all, nothing lasts forever, right? Being ‘natural’ would imply a certain degree of normality. Even more subtly, it would imply balance, death and birth both acting as part of the same cycle. Is language loss balance though? Similar to the devastating global decrease in biodiversity, the answer would be absolutely not. 

Much like different species, a melting pot of language is not only exciting, but wholeheartedly necessary for a global society to flourish. This is because progress relies on new ideas, which come from diversity of thought. That brings us to the link between language and ideas, a contentious question that has been hotly debated. Are ideas a product of the way we communicate? Is the way we communicate a factor of our ideas? Evidence suggests that indeed, language influences our worldview by imposing a certain framework of perceiving stimuli. David Ludden Ph.D. explains this in How Language Shapes Our World. “While language perception is driven by expectations,” he states. “…language also creates expectations that influence our perception of the world more generally. This is because we don’t just use language to communicate with others, we use it to think to ourselves.”

“…We don’t just use language to communicate with others, we use it to think to ourselves.”

David Ludden Ph.D, “How Languages Shapes Our World”

In losing a manner of thinking, cultures as a whole are in danger as well. Jonty Yamisha harps on this idea in his article The Challenges of Preserving and Reviving Endangered Minority Languages. “Language is culture,” he asserts. “It is the idea that we use to connect with our ideas, beliefs, emotions. It communicates our place in the world, our history, and our culture. When a language disappears, it takes away the ability to communicate one’s identity with it. And the world becomes smaller.” Similar to Matsuura, Yamisha identifies that at the core of culture there is language, which is inherited from each generation to the next not only as a form of communication, but also as a unique perception of the world. When it is lost, the “ability to communicate one’s identity” is also threatened. The image he portrays has a haunting way of lingering in the mind. When culture dies, the world shrinks, becomes simpler, becomes smaller. With this, we not only lose lifestyles and ideas, but even more importantly, we lose ways of thinking. 

We can’t let this happen. Understanding the languages of other cultures is an important step to problem-solving in the modern day, particularly regarding issues like food insecurity. With a new way of thinking comes a new set of solutions, and new solutions are vital. As UNESCO Director-General Matsuura remarks, “The loss of languages is also detrimental to humanity’s grasp of biodiversity, as they transmit much knowledge about nature and the universe.” Matsuura’s comment highlights the connection between language, knowledge, and our human interactions with the world. If a language dies, so does a framework for understanding the world. If this is so, what will happen if the decrease in linguistic diversity continues? How will this affect an already-distant connection to food and farming?

“The loss of languages is also detrimental to humanity’s grasp of biodiversity, as they transmit much knowledge about nature and the universe.”

UNESCO Director-General Matsuura

The solution, in a general sense, is to be curious about other cultures and languages. As always though, there are obstacles, especially in a time when globalization and colonization has driven so many languages into extinction or statuses like “vulnerable” and “endangered”. This has meant that unwritten languages have faced a high risk of extinction, with over 100 unwritten languages and dialects in Mexico alone and over a thousand in India. In fact, the majority of the estimated 3,500 languages and dialects in the world, a dizzying 3,000 in total, are unwritten. A study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also estimated that 3,000 of the world’s 6,000 languages are headed for extinction because no children speak them. Moreover, A UNEP report in 1999 indicated that of the estimated 5,000-7,000 languages spoken worldwide, nearly 2,500 were in danger of immediate extinction and an even higher number were losing the “ecological contexts that keep them as vibrant languages”. UNESCO approximated that 4,000-5,000 of these languages are spoken by indigenous people. 

(Please note that the number of languages in the world is constantly changing, so the estimated total number of languages in the world varies among these statistics.) 

Putting this all together, linguistic diversity is in danger and it’s our job to keep these cultures alive for the sake of maintaining a world rich with diversity. In Anna Luisa Daigneault’s Sapiens article How to Resurrect Dying Languages, she concludes that, “Languages are a fundamental right and the cornerstone of humanity’s diverse cultural identity. Speaking a dominant language does not mean communities have to give up their right to maintain and promote their ancestral language locally and globally.”

“Languages are a fundamental right and the cornerstone of humanity’s diverse cultural identity.”

Anna Luisa Daigneault, “How to Resurrect Dying Languages”

Echoing Daigneault’s words, language is at the essence of what distinguishes cultures, identities, and worldviews. With a daunting amount of them undergoing the threats of an increasingly globalized world, it has become extremely important to prioritize their preservation and growth. For this reason, I’ve decided to take on the challenge of studying an endangered language over the course of a month. See the heading below for a deeper explanation of this plan. 

My Plan to Study Hawaiian over a Month

• What’s the point of learning a language you’ll hardly ever use?
  • Curiosity
  • Gaining a greater appreciation of another culture 
  • Understanding how endangered languages compare to mainstream ones 
  • Answering the following questions: 
    • How does understanding Hawaiian change my perspective of agriculture?
    • What wisdom can I find in Hawaiian that cannot be found in English?
    • Does the Hawaiian language offer a pathway to improved agriculture?

• About Hawaiian
  • The Hawaiian language is critically endangered.
  • The culture & traditions of Hawaii were transmitted orally across generations until American missionaries arrived in 1820 and created a written Hawaiian language based on how the unwritten language sounded. After introducing printed Bibles and other books, Hawaiians soon adopted written literacy. Until the late 1800s, Hawaiian was the primary language. In 1893, Queen Lili`uokalani, the last reigning Hawaiian monarch, was overthrown by American forces who banned the use of the Hawaiian language in formal educational environments. The ban was only recently lifted in 1986. 
  • The Hawaiian island group can be found in the most northeastern part of Polynesia, at the center of the Pacific Ocean. For this reason, Hawaiian is closely related to other Polynesian languages. 
• What’s the ultimate goal of this project?
  • Be able to hold a low-level conversation in Hawaiian. 
• What’s the plan?
  • 1. Learning syntax of Hawaiian 
    • Resources: Youtube, Hawaiian grammar websites(e.g. Olelo Online), 
  • 2. Learning sound, words, phrases
    • Listening resources: Spotify & Youtube
  • 3. Learning Conversation (find a partner & start practicing)

Thought to Action

• Share this article with at least 3 other people
• Write to your local MP/Congressperson
• Learn to say one of these phrases:
  • Say “See you tomorrow” in Quechua: “Paqarinkama!”
  • Say “Hello! How are you?” in Plains Cree: “Tanisi!”
  • Say “I love you.” in Zulu: “Ngiyakuthanda.”
  • Say “I love you” in Hawaiian: “Aloha wau ia ‘oe.”
• Try growing some food yourself at home using this helpful guide. 
• Browse Tim Brooke’s website Endangered Alphabets to view his artwork surrounding the alphabets of endangered languages and follow him on Instagram
• Support locally-sourced food by attending your local farmer’s market.

Bibliography

Beauchemin, M. (2020). Understanding Ho’oponopono: A Beautiful Hawaiian Prayer for Forgiveness. [online] Grace & Lightness Magazine. Available at: https://graceandlightness.com/hooponopono-hawaiian-prayer-for-forgiveness/.

Dec 2019, A.L.D. / 18 (2019). How to Resurrect Dying Languages. [online] SAPIENS. Available at: https://www.sapiens.org/language/language-revitalization/.

Endangered Languages project (n.d.). Endangered Languages Project. [online] www.endangeredlanguages.com. Available at: https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/.

hawaiihistory.org. (2022). About the Hawaiian Language on this site. – Hawaii History – About HawaiiHistory.org. [online] Available at: http://hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ig.page&PageID=496.

https://plus.google.com/+UNESCO (2017). February 2009. [online] UNESCO. Available at: https://en.unesco.org/courier/endangered-languages-endangered-thought.

Ludden, D. (2015). How Language Shapes Our World. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-apes/201509/how-language-shapes-our-world.

Redish, L. (2021). Endangered Languages: Revival and Revitalization. [online] www.native-languages.org. Available at: http://www.native-languages.org/revive.htm.

Shofner, K. (n.d.). Some Little Known Facts About the Hawaiian Language. [online] www.unitedlanguagegroup.com. Available at: https://www.unitedlanguagegroup.com/blog/translation/little-known-facts-about-the-hawaiian-language.

Src=”https://Secure.gravatar.com/Avatar/?s=96, img C., d=mm, Feb. 08, r=g”>Katie M. and 2017 (2021). 6 Creative Ways to Save Endangered Languages Before They Disappear. [online] Reader’s Digest. Available at: https://www.rd.com/list/save-endangered-languages/.

The Glossika Blog. (2018). At What Rate are Languages Dying? [online] Available at: https://ai.glossika.com/blog/glossika-language-vitality-report-2018?utm_source=en_in_blog&utm_medium=preserving_endangered_languages_guest_post [Accessed 1 Jun. 2022].

The Life and Death of Languages: Diversity, Identity and Globalization. (2014). The Hawaiian Language and a Brief History. [online] Available at: https://hkulanguage.wordpress.com/history/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2022].

Uia.org. (2016a). Endangered cultures | World Problems & Global Issues | The Encyclopedia of World Problems. [online] Available at: http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/problem/135023.

Uia.org. (2016b). Endangered unwritten languages | World Problems & Global Issues | The Encyclopedia of World Problems. [online] Available at: http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/problem/149536.

Yamisha, J. (2019). The Challenges of Preserving and Reviving Endangered Minority Languages. [online] The Glossika Blog. Available at: https://ai.glossika.com/blog/the-challenges-of-preserving-and-reviving-endangered-minority-languages?utm_source=en_in_blog&utm_medium=preserving_endangered_languages_guest_post [Accessed 1 Jun. 2022].