Race against time to preserve language

On average every 2 weeks there is a dead language. By the end of the century, nearly half of the language on Earth will disappear. Many scientists are trying to record them for the next generation.

Hebrew was almost extinct, but was later revived in the Jewish community.Photo: followme-series.org.

Mr. Nikolaus Himmelmann does not claim to be a savior: "It sounds more solemn, calling what we are doing is more conservative." This linguist's mission is to document the "dying" languages, among about 6,500 different languages ​​on Earth.

The concept of "death", according to Himmelmann, is too stressful. According to him, this is a language change. It is a natural and dynamic process. Many parts of old voices are often brought along, language separated, and a new language takes shape.

The best known example is Latin. The voices of the Romans were only alive in the Vatican, but also a dead language. But languages ​​developed from Latin are still alive, like Italian and Spanish.

The problem is that the languages ​​that are being threatened today are not as widespread as Latin. Those are the languages ​​that at the time of bloom were only a few thousand people fluent, today less than 50 people.

What is needed to preserve a voice

American linguist David Harrison, like Himmelmann, is an expert in threatened languages, describing the difficult problems of this preservation: "When a language is dying, the linguist linguistics often suffers from the fact that only the elderly and weak people can be scattered in a large area. "

To document the basic framework of a language one needs "several linguists and 2 to 3 years". But often linguists don't have much time like that, because the language transformation takes place today at a very fast pace. "We live in a global information economy," Harrison remarked. "The overwhelmingness of some languages ​​suffers from small languages."

Globalization has contributed to making some major languages ​​- led by English - penetrate to all remote areas of the Earth and repel small languages ​​there.

But is it better for everyone all over the world to speak the same language? This will simplify the information, save time and money - and will it be no longer possible to learn vocabulary that is too labor intensive? What reason must try to preserve language?

Researcher on Himmelmann language objected: "I think a universal unified language is impossible. If the language is only a means of communication, then there has been a global language for a long time. But language also has the function of creating culture and therefore has a different voice. "

Linguists compare the recording of a language - that is the immaterial component of culture with the preservation of a tangible cultural achievement: Although the pyramid is no longer used for original purposes water, they are still standing in the desert today - and no one has the thought of pulling them away.

Regenerating a language depends on indigenous people

"Linguists can only contribute to the preservation of voices , " said Silvia Kutscher from the Institute of Linguistics at Cologne University. "For example, rewrite the grammar. That can create more motivation and confidence. But rebuilding a language depends on indigenous people. It is they who can do it."

Reviving a language can also be successful, such as Hebrew. Along with the establishment of the "Hebrew Language Council" in 1889, the resurrection for the language of the Bible began. Today Hebrew is used by millions of people as their mother tongue.