Topic 5 Language Vitality and Endangerment
Intended Learning Outcomes: At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to:
1. Discuss language vitality and endangerment.
5.1 Introduction
Gao 2015 states that language shift is the process by which a speech community in a contact
situation gradually abandons one language in favor of another. Language shift, leading to
language endangerment and eventually language death, is a growing occurrence across the globe,
with nearly half of the world’s 7,000 languages classified as endangered in the Catalogue of
Endangered Languages (Campbell et al. 2013). The first step to assessing the vitality of an
undocumented language is to identify the language(s) currently spoken by community members
as well as the specific factors contributing to language shift and the rate of any shift. This takes
into account Fishman’s (1991) theoretical approach to language shift noting that the causal
factors of shift and disruption of intergenerational transmission are largely social. This paper
reports on the linguistic vitality of Miqie, a Central Ngwi (Loloish) language spoken by about 8,000
members of the Yi ethnic minority group in central Yunnan Province, China. Not unlike other small
ethnolinguistic groups in China, the Miqie are undergoing rapid language shift to the majority
lingua franca, in this case, Mandarin Chinese. This field report outlines the social factors affecting
Miqie’s linguistic assimilation to Chinese and discusses the broader implications for language
survey planning, linguistic vitality assessment, and language description.
5.2 Language Endangerment
An endangered language or moribund language, is a language that is at risk of falling out of use
as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the
language has no more native speakers and becomes a dead language like Latin. If no one can
speak the language at all, it becomes an extinct language. A dead language may still be studied
through recordings or writings, but it is still dead or extinct unless there are fluent speakers.
Although languages have always become extinct throughout human history, they are currently
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dying at an accelerated rate because of globalization, imperialism, neocolonialism
and linguicide (language killing).
Language shift most commonly occurs when speakers switch to a language associated with social
or economic power or spoken more widely, the ultimate result being language death. The
consensus is that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 languages currently spoken and that
between 50% and 90% of them will have become extinct by the year 2100. The 20 most common
languages, each with more than 50 million speakers, are spoken by 50% of the world's population,
but most languages are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people. On a more general level, 0.2% of
the world's languages are spoken by half of the world's population. Furthermore, 96% of the
world's languages are spoken by 4% of the population.
The first step towards language death is potential endangerment. This is when a language faces
strong external pressure, but there are still communities of speakers who pass the language to
their children. The second stage is endangerment. Once a language has reached the
endangerment stage, there are only a few speakers left and children are, for the most part, not
learning the language. The third stage of language extinction is seriously endangered. During this
stage, a language is unlikely to survive another generation and will soon be extinct. The fourth
stage is moribund, followed by the fifth stage extinction.
5.3 Language Vitality
Many projects are under way aimed at preventing or slowing language loss
by revitalizing endangered languages and promoting education and literacy in minority languages,
often involving joint projects between language communities and linguists. Across the world,
many countries have enacted specific legislation aimed at protecting and stabilizing the language
of indigenous speech communities. Recognizing that most of the world's endangered languages
are unlikely to be revitalized, many linguists are also working on documenting the thousands of
languages of the world about which little or nothing is known.
Language vitality is demonstrated by the extent that the language is used as a means of
communication in various social contexts for specific purposes. A language with
high vitality would be one that is used extensively both inside and outside the home, by all
generations, and for most, if not all, topics.
No single factor is sufficient to assess the state of a community’s language. However, taken
together, these nine factors can determine the viability of a language. Its function in society and
the type of measures required for its maintenance of a revitalization.
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✓ Absolute number of speakers
✓ Intergenerational language transmission
✓ Proportion of speakers within the total population
✓ Availability of materials for language education and literacy
✓ Response to new domains and media
✓ Type and quality of documentation
✓ Government and institutional language attitudes and policies, including official status and
use
✓ Shifts in domains of language use
✓ Community member’s attitudes towards their own language
✓
For language vitality assessment, we can consider these major evaluative factors of language
vitality with its six major factors identified such as:
1) Intergenerational Language Transmission. Intergenerational Language Transmission The
most commonly used factor in evaluating the vitality of a language is whether or not it is
being transmitted from one generation to the next (Fishman 1991). Endangerment can
be ranked on a continuum from stability to extinction. Even “safe” (below), however, does
not guarantee language vitality, because at any time speakers may cease to pass on their
language to the next generation. Six degrees of endangerment may be distinguished with
regards to Intergenerational Language Transmission:
2) Absolute Number of Speakers. It is impossible to provide a valid interpretation of absolute
numbers, but a small speech community is always at risk. A small population is much more
vulnerable to decimation (e.g. by disease, warfare, or natural disaster) than a larger one.
A small language group may also merge with a neighbouring group, losing its own
language and culture.
3) Proportion of Speakers within the Total Population. The number of speakers in relation to
the total population of a group is a significant indicator of language vitality, where “group”
may refer to the ethnic, religious, regional, or national group with which the speaker
community identifies. The following scale can be used to appraise degrees of
endangerment.
4) Trends in Existing Language Domains. This deals with factors such as universal use,
multilingual parity, dwindling domains, limited or formal domains, highly limited domain,
and extinct.
5) Response to New Domains and Media. New areas for language use may emerge as
community living conditions change. While some language communities do succeed in
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expanding their own language into the new domain, most do not. Schools, new work
environments, new media, including broadcast media and the Internet, usually serve only
to expand the scope and power of the dominant language at the expense of endangered
languages. Although no existing domains of the endangered language may be lost, the
use of the dominant language in the new domain has mesmerizing power, as with
television. If the communities do not meet the challenges of modernity with their
language, it becomes increasingly irrelevant and stigmatized.
6) Materials for Language Education and Literacy. Education in the language is essential for
language vitality. There are language communities that maintain strong oral traditions,
and some do not wish their language to be written. In other communities, literacy in their
language is a source of pride. In general, however, literacy is directly linked with social
and economic development. Needed are books and materials on all topics for various
ages and language abilities.
5.4 Language Use
Language use refers to the communicative meaning of language. It can be compared to usage,
which refers to the rules for making language and the structures we use to make it. The usage of
a language is the manner in which the written and spoken language is routinely employed by its
speakers; that is, it refers to the collective habits of a language's native
speakers. Fowler characterized usage as the way in which a word or phrase is normally and
correctly used.
5.5 Language Promotion
To prevent languages from dying and becoming extinct, there are many movements for language
promotion with a view to promoting the importance of language education and nurturing a
facilitating language learning environment for students and the workforce through partnership
with various stakeholders such as government departments, non-governmental organizations and
private sectors.
Some promotions are the following:
✓ Making it sure that everyone can speak two languages as well as their mother tongue;
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✓ Improving the quality of language teaching, from kindergarten through to adult
education; and
✓ Creating a more language-friendly environment.
✓ Language learning in secondary education and training
✓ Language learning in higher education
✓ Adult language learning
✓ Language learners with special needs
✓ Creating language-friendly school
✓ Creating languages’ classroom
✓ Language teacher training
✓ Supply of language teachers
✓ Training teachers of other subjects
✓ Testing language skills
✓ Building a language-friendly environment
✓ Building language-friendly communities
✓ Improving supply and take-up of language learning
5.6 Language Attitudes and Policies
The maintenance, promotion, or abandonment of non-dominant languages may be dictated by
the dominant linguistic culture, be it regional or national. The linguistic ideology of a state may
inspire linguistic minorities to mobilize their populations toward the maintenance of their
languages or may force them to abandon them. These linguistic attitudes can be a powerful force
both for promotion and loss of their languages. Members of the dominant culture shape the
ideological environment, propagating a value system in which their own language is seen as a
positive asset, and believed to be a unifying symbol for the region or state. When several larger
linguistic communities compete for the same political or social space, they may each have their
own conflicting linguistic attitudes. This leads to the general perception that multiple languages
cause divisiveness and are a threat to national unity. The fostering of a single dominant language
is one attempt to deal with this real or merely perceived threat. In doing so, the governing body
may legislate the use of language. Accordingly, the policies may discourage or even prohibit the
use of other languages. National policy, including the lack of overt policy, has in any case a direct
impact on the language attitude of the community itself.
A country's government may have an explicit language use policy for its multiple languages. At
one extreme, one language may be designated as the sole official language of the country, while
all others are condemned. At the other extreme, all languages of a nation may receive equal
official status. Equal legal status, however, does not guarantee language maintenance and long-
term vitality of a language.
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5.7 Attitude Revitalization
Bell (2013) states that language attitudes can be positive or negative and can have both positive
and negative effects on language revival/survival, depending on how deeply ingrained the
attitude may be in the holder's mind. Some attitudes are changeable, and others are not. Often,
a person may not recognize that they hold a certain attitude, until circumstances call it to the
surface. Communal attitudes may oppose the revival of languages without living speakers or may
promote the idea that revival is impossible. Two examples of language revival in Australia are
discussed, namely the Badjala (Butchulla) language programme in south-east Queensland, and
the Jingulu and Mudburra programme in Elliott, a remote community in the Northern Territory.
Attitudinal challenges for revival programmes are examined, as well as types of support needed
for success.
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