Can Languages Die?

Languages constantly change and shape through time. They change for a variety of reasons such as social, economic and political pressures, by historical events like invasions, colonization and migration, and even new technologies, industries and products. All these factors influence the society and drive the speakers to create new set of words, phrases and even change pronunciation. But, how can languages survive after many years of facing troubles and difficulties? Can languages “die”?

There are many reasons as to why languages “die”. Besides the death of their speakers due to natural disasters which still happens today, we could consider colonization, migration, and invasion. Sadly, there are numerous languages that are vanishing. “About 3,000 languages are going to become extinct in 1,200 months”, says Černý Miroslav. That’s very alarming because since language represents and preserves the identity and integrity of a culture then we are losing a part of this world. The reason behind the death of these languages is because there are very few speakers that after their death it will eventually vanish.

There are approximately 5,000 to 6,000 languages in the world. In this global context, the first three languages are Chinese with 1,000,000,000, then English with 350,000,000, and at third place Spanish with 250,000,000 speakers. Economic, political, social and cultural power is also in the hands of the speakers of these languages so this helps them survive through time.

 One important factor as to how languages survive has to do with the history of the country where the language is spoken. A remarkable example is the historical development of the English language. The old English was born in the Britannia where the Indo-Europeans tribes, the Anglo-Saxons settled in for the first time. After years of living in that fruitful land, Christianity dropped by and gave the language a great boost by expanding their vocabulary with one of the most influential languages, Latin. Sometime later the Vikings, who spoke Danish came a long and invaded the island influencing and changing English. But that’s not all that happened.

When a language is threatened to disappear, it is then when the speakers must do everything in their power, if they care for their culture, to revive and strengthen their language. Just like in the continuing story of English who showed an astonishing adaptability in surviving another major language collision. The victory of the new French King in the island of Britain changed the face of English forever. Everything was spoken in French and the poor natives who spoke English had to learn it in order to survive. Many years passed by and eventually the French language took the English language’s place as the official one of Britain. It was such an enormous influence. Luckily, the English language was well established, many French lived in English countrysides surrounded by English speakers, and due to King John the French were starting to be pushed away.

             An endangered language can change and improve if its speakers show interest, just like in the history of English. Nothing is forever, but a language like I mentioned before represents us, our culture, we must fight to keep it alive in this ever changing world. We must continue to speak it, to write it in textbooks, articles, etc., and we must teach it. Yes, language changes through time, but it’s a good development. We need to enrich it by adding and expanding our vocabulary. English may be the Lingua Franca in the world but never forget your own language to the extent of making it disappear completely.

Loves God Greatly,
Adriana Giletta