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900 Writing Assignment #3

Kevin King 11/15/2011

The Natural Selection of Language Planet earth has always housed a broader diversity of inhabitants compared to any other planet humanity knows of. Earths inhabitants remain diverse to this day. We eat different foods, play different sports, enjoy different musical genres, wear different clothing, and hold different values. In the development of humanitys diversity, groups of people also developed different languages. As the world becomes more and more connected through easier travel and near-instant global communication, different languages are inevitably coming into contact with each other. As a result of economic, cultural, and political reasons, some languages have become extinct. (Wurm, 2) To some, the extinction of a language represents a horrible loss of human culture and a failure of society to preserve what is important. While the extinction of a language may seem like a loss to all of society, near-extinct languages should not be preserved by any party other than the speakers of those languages, as any external attempt to keep a language alive is bound to fail. Also, society should not feel compelled to preserve language since the main function of all languages is communication and a variety of languages actually hinders the benefits of diversity for society. The cultural significance of the extinction of a language is not catastrophic and is sometimes even beneficial to the health of that culture. I admit that language is part of a societys culture, but how significant is it compared to other traditions? In other words, if one is a Christian and celebrates Christmas each year, would one value how gift is pronounced in ones language over the act of worshipping the coming of Jesus Christ? Furthermore, the traditions involved with paradigms like religion are often conducted in many different

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languages. Therefore, languages most functional purpose is to allow communication between people. The traditional activities or practices carried out by a group of people do not depend on the language they speak, indicating that the extinction of a language should not be seen as a loss of culture, but instead a new way of carrying out the same culture. Even if the loss of a language is also a loss of culture, the decision of whether to preserve the language should be made by the speakers, not an external language-preserving force. Indian youth make a choice each day between honoring their ancestors and speaking a more modern tongue. Of course the young Indian population wants to honor its ancestors, but many choose to more easily incorporate with modern India by discontinuing the daily use of their native language. (Ladefoged, 810) A vital part of preserving the life of a language is teaching the language to children. In addition to Indian youth, Indian parents are also deciding to focus on modernization, teaching English to their children instead of the native language. The similar decisions of both the youth and parents of India prove two aspects of language extinction. First, the speakers of a native language are making an autonomous decision that they have evaluated against all other options. If a language lacks support from its speakers, the chances of it surviving are greatly reduced. Second, the decisions being made by the native speakers directly affect how they live their lives, and a linguist or external evaluation committee should not force any decision upon these people. Some may argue that the loss of a language diminishes the diversity of a population. On the contrary, language does not create the kind of positive diversity that helps everyone learn more about each other and creates more open minds. Multiple languages create a communication barrier, causing less meaningful interactions between groups of people and blocking the spreading of culture. The premise that the loss of a

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language leads to no change in culture may be too bold. While it is true that speakers of Traditional Kiwai lose complex verb forms and emphasis on the time and number acted upon of an action when moving to another language, this change is small in comparison to the rest of Kiwai culture that remains unchanged because of the language transformation. (Wurm, 11-12) Overall, the extinction of a language should not be construed as a huge cultural loss, and the decisions of speakers of a language to abandon it should be respected. I am not arguing that every minority language should be choked out of existence. If the speakers of a dying language feel the need to preserve it, efforts will be made by those speakers. An external forced preservation of a language would not feel as natural or meaningful to the speakers of a dying language. Since any external intervention pushes against the natural development of language, linguists have another reason not to try and control the development of language. Any method an external group might use to keep a language alive would involve a large and long-term cost of resources that would be better spent on issues regarding quality of living. Besides inconvenience and cost, the preservation of a dying language also sustains a communication barrier that negatively affects entertainment, conversation, and schooling. The country of Uganda is a frightening example of this communication barrier. With 31 languages spoken in Uganda, less than 50% of the people of Uganda can hold a conversation with one another. Imagine walking down the street and not even being able to ask for directions from half of the people you pass by. (Ladefoged, 811) Even national public entertainment suffers from many incompatible languages. The Ugandan radio is broadcast in 16 different languages, drastically limiting the variety of stations and amount of listeners possible for each station. (Ladefoged, 811) Perhaps the most detrimental to Uganda, the Ugandan education system uses

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Kevin King 11/15/2011

six different languages. (Ladefoged, 811) Just from a family moving inside the country, a childs education would be slowed until he or she caught up with the correct language. The general mixing of the worlds population is leading to more frequent marriages where each spouse knows multiple languages with only one in common between them. When the new couple has a child, they decide to teach only the language they have in common to the child. (Wurm, 6) If each of the smaller languages were to be preserved, each spouse would have to take the time and effort learning the other spouses traditional language and then teaching it to the child. While some couples may decide to take this path, linguists should not prevent marriages nor should they force spouses to learn each others traditional languages. The extinction of a language sounds very alarming, as if a population was breathing its last breath or a helpless civilization was collapsing into death. The source of this negative connotation is mostly misunderstanding. Instead of a way of life, language is merely a way to express ones way of life. When a language becomes extinct, the truth is that people are not losing the ability to express themselves, but they are actually gaining the ability to more universally express themselves. Instead of being thought of as the extinction of a language, this event should be seen as the growing of a widespread successful language. No different than the natural selection of animal species, the growth of one language and diminishing of another is natural and governed by rational reasons. By accepting the extinction of languages, humanity can expedite the journey towards a universal language under which all humans can contribute their ideas, culture, and feelings without the limiting need of translation.

24.900 Writing Assignment #3

Kevin King 11/15/2011

Works Cited
Ladefoged, Peter. "Another View of Endangered Languages." Language 68.4 (1992): 809-11. Print. Wurm, Stephen A. "Language Death and Disappearance: Causes and Circumstances." Endangered Languages. By R. H. Robins and E. M. Uhlenbeck. Oxford: Berg, 1991. 1-15. Print.