Save the Endangered Language in This World

Zhong Ni

【Abstract】Languages we use today may be endangered tomorrow； this is a global problem now. This paper will discuss some issues about the reasons why there are some many languages become endangered. And what we should do to protect the diversity of language. By this way， with our efforts the situation will be better in the future.

【Key words】language； endangered； measures

【作者簡介】Zhong Ni， Chengdu College of University of Electronic Science and Technology.

Human beings could not live without language， our society and culture is based on it. If we lose it， our society will collapse sooner or later. A language is a kind of unique creation produced by its language community members for a long time in the river of history. They use it to narrate their own history， to describe their own daily lives， also to sing their own lyric poems， and to record all the experiences they have ever had. The importance of language is never excessive to a person or to a whole community.

The variety of language is as important as the diversity of human culture， the disappearance of language will be a serious challenge to the cultural diversity. It is a big loss to human wealth， too. The disappearance of a kind of language is no less than the endangerment of a kind of creature species. Some scholars believe that language is the direct expression of the thinking style of the its community members， so the disappearance of language could raise the tendency of simplification of humans thinking methods， it can also lead to the degeneration of peoples way of thinking. Even this tendency is very dangerous and disastrous to us. Thus， protecting the endangered language is a crucial event to the world.

First of all， pay attention to the reasons which cause this endangered problem. The internal reason is weak language， or the language has no writing system in which the words and grammar function can not satisfy the requirement of complex social communication. Also， there exist many external reasons. For example， the decrease of users， the scattered region of this language， the combination of minority， and the transition of the society are some major causes. High developed technology and global economy indeed bring us convenience and shortcut， while， the information explosion and improper language policy at the time strengthen the rising of superior language and ignore the weak language. These make our language unite to one， and give a huge destruction to the language diversity. They prospectively fasten the steps of endangerment of some language on earth. In deeper aspect of meaning， remain language diversity is beneficial for the sustainable development of human society.

Taking measures is the first thing we should do， but before that， we should realize something in our spirit， our heart. February 21st is the “Mother tongues day” established by UNESCO. On February 19th， worlds first endangered language distributive map came into being. In humans history， this is the first chance showing us the distribution of endangered mother tongue in this world in the form of “language map”. In that picture， we can discover the different extent of the endanger situation of language by 5 kinds of levels：

1. Unsafe—with the color of white；

2. Definetely endangered—with yellow；

3. Severely endangered—with orange；

4. Critically endangered—with red；

5. Extinct （since the 1950s）—with black.

When people notice this map， no one can look down upon the influence of colors scattered in the whole picture. This tells us a vivid information that it is not a question to a single person， to one country， but to the world we all hold.

The first useful action is founding language organizations or associations. If it is permitted， the foundation of professional organization is necessary. Invest labor force， money and materials to carry out protecting works to the endangered language in the country. Establish special fund to maintain the work developing day by day efficiently. Secondly， Bilingualism is another suitable measure we should do. For the minorities in our country， the government ought to undertake bilingualism policy which guarantee language equality and enhance the dialect education. Providing good condition to bilingual teaching and using， training the local people to record and protect their endangered language. Intensifying the emotion of the language members to their mother tongue， with love and care， this can slow down the speed of decay of their language. Thirdly， we can not forget the colossal affection of media. Record and keep the precious data of endangered language， especially with modern method to preserve the words， pronunciation， grammar， and oral stories. Editing textbook and publishing dictionary of the language， recoding the literature pieces of this language in CD or DVD to conserve it correctly are specific methods to be done by people. This will set up a database for the speakers in case that they can not clearly spread their culture to others or to their descendants. We may inspire some public institution or personal organ to invest more to create different versions of computer system and website. Of course， the newspaper， TV programs and the Internet will make better use of their advantages to spread the endangered language to people. To protect a certain kind of language， the best way are creating every possible term to encourage people to speak that and to teach the next generation. That is to say， we can advise students to study two or three languages in the primary education period where including the study of the endangered local language to protect the language diversity. The vivid example is the existence of Hebraic language which is saved by the Hebrew people in Israel， and people could still speak Welsh in western England. By the way， if a language has not had a writing system， we should help the locals create a way to record the language， or only inherit with oral way by mouth， the language can not exist forever， and neither could the children to learn it in the following years.

All the excellent ideas can not be taken into reality if we do not depend on governments strong supports. We should understand that governments sustentation is the key to the protect the endangered language because we need finance investing and experts advice. This can only be moved on by the consciousness of a nation. The official laws and regulations are important that in this way can the protecting works enter citizens heart and the language saving workers can obey the principles to continue their works. The government can also make policies to protect minority areas from reducing and to set an example about how to protect their own language by learning the demonstration of other endangered language zones. Even on the road sigh and signboard can be shown in two languages. No matter what kind of language it is， we ought to protect it in the same way， either strong or weak； it is one part of the language diversity.

Nowadays， the disappearing phenomenon of language is getting promoting. And this phenomenon is quite a common danger in this world. It is our duty and obligation to try our best to save them. The large scale of language vanishing is certainly a titanic damage to human culture. This is not a simple question researched merely by linguists， but a severe question that everyone should care about. Let us grasp our time to record those endangered languages by all means of methods， to protect the beautiful culture which belongs to the all human kind.

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