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Vanishing Languages

Speechless

The Elements of the Gaelic Language (by Mlaurin, Alexander)
The Gaelic Journal : Irislear Na Elge (by Gaelic Union)
The Old Highlands; Being Papers Read bef... (by Gaelic Society of Glasgow)
Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (by Liliuokalani)
The Last of the Mohicans, A Narrative of...

Over the years, many languages such as Eyak (Alaska) have disappeared. Many of the world’s native languages are endangered, at risk of falling out of use because they have few surviving speakers. If a language loses all of its native speakers, it becomes extinct.

“One language dies every 14 days,” according to National Geographic. “By the next century nearly half of the roughly 7,000 languages spoken on Earth will likely disappear, as communities abandon native tongues in favor of English, Mandarin, or Spanish.” According to Ethnologue, the 20th edition of their annual catalog of languages records a total of 7,099 living languages worldwide and “drops 11 languages that were listed as living in the previous edition.”

“Since there are so many imperilled languages, it’s impossible to label just one as the rarest or most endangered, but at least 100 around the world have only a handful of speakers–from Ainu in Japan to Yagan in Chile,” according to the BBC. It can be difficult to find these people, too. There are some famous cases—Marie Smith Jones passed away in Alaska in 2008, taking the Eyak language with her, but usually they are older individuals often in failing health who don’t advertise their language skills.”

Irish (Gaeilge), also referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (Gaelic) of the Indo European language family. It originated in Ireland and was spoken by the Irish people. According to Mental Floss, “Irish Gaelic currently has over 40,000 estimated native speakers. There are several communities in Ireland, called Gaeltachts, where Irish is still spoken as the primary language. Governmental efforts have been in place for many years requiring Irish students to learn the Irish language and encouraging it to be spoken. Despite the government’s attempts, though, this language is still classified as vulnerable.”

Although England never officially banned Irish Gaelic, its policies strongly discouraged its use until Queen Victoria expressed an interest in the island’s native language. In Scotland the Statutes of Iona in 1609, outlawed the Gaelic learned orders and sought to eradicate Gaelic and replace it with the conquering tongue.

For more on the Gaelic language, read The Elements of The Gaelic Language by Mlaurin Alexander, The Gaelic Journal: Irislear Na Elge by Gaelic Union, or The Old Highlands by Neil Munro.

Conquering nations ban native languages to override native culture and then assimilate conquered people into the new order. The United States is no exception. In 1893, a coup led by a small group of wealthy businessmen and plantation owners overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy and dethroned Queen Liliuokalani. A law banned the language from being taught in public schools from 1896 until 1986. The native Hawaiian language (Olelo) remains endangered.

According to HawaiiHistory.org in the late 1960s and 1970s, the Hawaiian community experienced a cultural renaissance. Growing interest in the language, music, traditional navigation and voyaging, and hula sparked new pride. For more, explore Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen Liliuokalani.

Mahican (also known as Mohican) is an extinct language. It was spoken by the Mohican Native American Indians who lived in New York’s Hudson Valley area and in Vermont. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper was inspired by their story.

By Regina Molaro