Individual governments can impose forceful measures to protect many languages from dying. But there are more inclusive and easier measures that individual community members can use to preserve their language or an endangered language in their local areas.
There has only been one successful instance of a complete language revival, the Hebrew language, creating a new generation of native speakers without any pre-existing native speakers as a model. Languages targeted for language revitalization include those whose use and prominence is severely limited.
In conclusion, I'd say the short answer is yes – dying languages are most certainly worth saving. Learn more about ALTA's language services, including translation, interpreter training, interpretation, and testing. Janet Barrow writes about the places where language meets history, culture, and politics.
Hebrew was the only dead language ever to be revived from extinction.
As we have discussed before, a dead language does not have any native speaker, but it has some uses. Still, people use this language for different purposes. For example, Latin, Sanskrit, Coptic, Biblical Hebrew, etc., are the dead language.
Njerep is the rarest language that has been declared extinct by experts. It is native to Cameroon and does not have more than five speakers today. These speakers are not fluent in the tongue.
Ancient languages: the oldest dead languages on Earth
The archaeological proof we have today allows us to state that the oldest dead language in the world is the Sumerian language. Dating back to at least 3500 BC, the oldest proof of written Sumerian was found in today's Iraq on an artifact known as the Kish Tablet.
Aramaic is best known as the language Jesus spoke. It is a Semitic language originating in the middle Euphrates. In 800-600 BC it spread from there to Syria and Mesopotamia. The oldest preserved inscriptions are from this period and written in Old Aramaic.
Fortunately, a dead language can be brought back to life, or revitalized, by actively studying and speaking that language and passing it down to the next generation. As soon as children begin learning a language as their native language, that language has been revitalized and is considered a living language.
Language grows and continuously adapts, evolving as we come up with better words that reflect our society or culture.
In linguistics, language death occurs when a language loses its last native speaker. By extension, language extinction is when the language is no longer known, including by second-language speakers.
That loss is visceral, as languages often help define who we are. When a language dies, we lose cultures, entire civilizations, but also, we lose people. We lose perspectives, ideas, opinions, most importantly, we lose a unique way of being human.
Ultimately, language death could be seen as a form of evolution. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, due in part to economic and cultural trade as well as increasing access to technology, some things are bound to be lost in the transition.
After age 12, knowledge of languages becomes more solidified, and it's less likely that people beyond this age will ever fully forget their first language. However, when an adult shifts to primarily speaking another language, they still might experience some difficulty when they try to use their first language.
While some people can remember their native language after years, even decades of not speaking or hearing it, many others begin to lose fluency after only 3-5 years.
It's unlikely that we'll see a world that speaks one language any time soon. Protecting each individual countries' cultures is a huge barrier, but an important one to ensure our world is as beautifully diverse as it's always been.
Ithkuil is an experimental constructed language created by John Quijada. It is designed to express more profound levels of human cognition briefly yet overtly and clearly, particularly about human categorization. It is a cross between an a priori philosophical and a logical language.
Sanskrit Language
Sanskrit, also known as Devbhasha, is one of the oldest languages in the world. It is widely believed to be influential in the creation of hundreds of other modern-day languages.
The Adamic language, according to Jewish tradition (as recorded in the midrashim) and some Christians, is the language spoken by Adam (and possibly Eve) in the Garden of Eden.
In Nazareth, Jesus spoke Aramaic's Galilean dialect. Jesus's last words on the cross were in Aramaic: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
The Aramaic word for God is alôh-ô ( Syriac dialect) or elâhâ (Biblical dialect), which comes from the same Proto- Semitic word (*ʾilâh-) as the Arabic and Hebrew terms; Jesus is described in Mark 15:34 as having used the word on the cross, with the ending meaning "my", when saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou ...
According to a 2009 study by researchers at Reading University, the oldest words in the English language include “I“, “we“, “who“, “two” and “three“, all of which date back tens of thousands of years.
In the beginning, Sanskrit stood as mother of all languages and encouraged all languages and was the reason for their growth and prosperity. One may note that most of the works in Sanskrit have been translated into other Indian languages.”
What is the first language? Sumerian can be considered the first language in the world, according to Mondly. The oldest proof of written Sumerian was found on the Kish tablet in today's Iraq, dating back to approximately 3500 BC.