Smrt jezika

by David Crystal

Glavna pitanja na koja profesor Kristal daje odgovore u knjizi Smrt jezika su: šta je smrt jezika, koji uzroci dovode do nestanka jezika, koji su stepeni ugroženosti, zašto jezici umiru, koje mere preduzeti u cilju revitalizacije i očuvanja jezika...

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Anthropology, Read For School

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

David Crystal works from his home in Holyhead, North Wales, as a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster. Born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland in 1941, he spent his early years in Holyhead. His family moved to Liverpool in 1951, and he received his secondary schooling at St Mary's College. He read English at University College London (1959-62), specialised in English language studies, did some research there at the Survey of English Usage under Randolph Quirk (1962-3), then joined academic life as a lecturer in linguistics, first at Bangor, then at Reading. He published the first of his 100 or so books in 1964, and became known chiefly for his research work in English language studies, in such fields as intonation and stylistics, and in the application of linguistics to religious, educational and clinical contexts, notably in the development of a range of linguistic profiling techniques for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. He held a chair at the University of Reading for 10 years, and is now Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. These days he divides his time between work on language and work on internet applications.

source: http://www.davidcrystal.com/

Reviews

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book about why languages - all of them - matter. It's the other side of his book, English as a Global Language (which I haven't read). Update: I've just read a review of Experimenting in Tongues: Studies in Science and Language, which is a new publication, about how English has triumphed as the language of science in recent years.

David Crystal is eminently readable (as well as eminent) and it is quite short, so although it's written mainly for serious linguists, it's accessible to the general reader with an interest in language. This review is a summary of key points.

"Language is the most massive and inclusive art, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations." Edward Sapir.

"Languages are the pedigree of nations." Dr Johnson.

What's the problem?

Languages have always died, but Crystal fears the process is accelerating, and explains the difficulties in assessing the truth of that fear.

How do you define a language? If two languages are mutually intelligible, they are generally treated as variants of the same language, except for the exceptions (generally political, e.g. Serbo-Croat is now Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian, though there is little change to the actual language(s)).

The recognition of minorities could mitigate the tide of language death: English may be swamping the world as a second/additional language, but it may splinter into regional variants that are more distinct than currently. "No one owns English now", which I think is broadly good. On the other hand, I have no problem understanding American or Indian English, but how would I feel if that ceased to be the case?!

At what point does a language become endangered? One used by a small but stable community may have a surer future than one spoken by tens of thousands, but where it's swamped by a language perceived as having more power and prestige.

Why does it matter?

1. Diversity is good, and languages are a delicate, connected ecosystem.
2. Language is part of identity.
3. Languages are a repository of history (etymology, but also differences of vocabulary and style).
4. Any loss of knowledge is a loss. Preservation isn't about communication (there are other languages), but identity and uniqueness.
5. Languages are inherently interesting (e.g kinship vocabulary, reflecting different social structures).

Why do languages die?

1. The people are in physical danger (war, plague, tsunami).
2. Cultural change or assimilation:
2a. Pressure to use the dominant language (political, social, economic).
2b. Emerging bilingualism.
2c. Younger generations favouring the new language, so becoming monolingual in that.

What can be done about it?

The final chapter is aimed more at professional linguists, but even before that, Crystal considers how and if outsiders should support languages at risk, especially if the speakers don't care about saving it.

Community involvement is vital, and language isolates should be prioritised.

The main tools are raising the prestige and visibility of minority languages. He saw the internet as a cheap, easy and non-geographically bound way for minority languages to have a presence. However, I suspect that since he wrote, any such advantage has been diluted by the spread of English.

He notes that literacy is no guarantee of survival, but that it does make it easier to pass a language across generations (and continents) and even to resurrect dead ones. However, where a language does not have a writing system, great sensitivity is required: which dialect should be encoded in writing (will others die as a result), and are there political implications of picking Roman over Arabic script, for example?

For languages that are likely to die, it's important to store data in a variety of mediums: not just writing, but audio too, and covering as wide a range of contexts and registers as possible. The rhythm of oral traditions cannot be fully conveyed on a printed page.

Helpless me

Crystal has many ideas of what to do and not do, and why, but for all that I say I care about language, as an outsider (rather than a field linguist) who is fluent in only one language and can get by as a tourist in three others, I'm left feeling alert to the issues, appreciative of what I have, but ultimately helpless.

Bilingualism

Shame on me and many of my compatriots. Bilingualism is the norm for most people across the world.

For all the idealism of Esperanto or attempts to spread English even further, he cites The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: the Babel fish "by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation."

More seriously, two languages need not be in conflict within a community: typically, one is about identity (inward-looking), and the other is for communicating with other groups (external).

Eskimo snow myth

Even in 2000, this was old hat. One of the reasons is down to lexemes (semantic units): flowerpot, flower-pot and flower pot are a single unit, as are take, takes, taken, taking, took. It's similar with snow words. And of course, there are quite a few snow-related words in English: snow, slush, sleet, mogul, flurry, whiteout. More here: http://people.ucalgary.ca/~kmuldrew/c...

Showing its age?

This is fifteen years old (published in 2000) and frequently cites research and publications from the late '90s. Most of the issues are general and enduring, so it's only a few examples where it's relevant. In particular:

* The year before this was published, it became compulsory to teach Welsh in all state funded schools in Wales. Hence, Crystal hadn't seen the effects, which is a shame, as it's a language he has a particular interest in.

* Crystal refers to the ubiquity of English in the US, without any mention of Spanish, which is increasingly widely spoken, though predictions of trends vary: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/.... It might even fall, as those from Spanish-speaking backgrounds stop speaking Spanish at home!

* He saw the power of the internet, but didn't foresee how it would increase the spread of English.

* He also saw HIV/AIDS as a bigger long-term threat than seems to be the case.

Stats

At the time of writing, 96% of the world had a first language that was one of only 20 languages (out of around 6000 languages).

The most spoken first languages were: Mandarin, Spanish, English, Bengali, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Japanese. I know Brazil is big, but I was surprised Portuguese was so high (and indeed English), and although Mandarin and Russian are compulsory across vast nations, I thought they were second/additional languages for many. And no Arabic.

The New Yorker article Emir and Ted mention in comments #1 and #2 (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...), from 30 March 2015, has these numbers, putting Arabic at #5:

"The mother tongue of more than three billion people is one of twenty, which are, in order of their current predominance: Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, Japanese, Javanese, German, Wu Chinese, Korean, French, Telugu, Marathi, Turkish, Tamil, Vietnamese, and Urdu. English is the lingua franca of the digital age, and those who use it as a second language may outnumber its native speakers by hundreds of millions."

I wonder if they're lumping together different varieties of Arabic that Crystal's stats counted separately.

Descriptivism and prescriptivism

Crystal is a descriptivist: he sees language change as inevitable, healthy and interesting.

In contrast, here's a satirical piece from Speculative Grammarian titled "Saving Endangered Languages with Prescriptivism":
http://specgram.com/CLXXII.4/09.dever...

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Crystal's book LANGUAGE DEATH is meant to bring attention for the general public to the dire loss of indigenous languages around the world--one every two weeks on average. This is a truly serious problem, and merits the attention of everyone. Crystal's work is somewhat scholarly--footnotes abound and it is published by Cambridge University Press--but the writer is expert at bringing eggheaded concerns to the average reader.

Crystal's book is organized according to five questions. In the first chapter, "What is language death?", he introduces the problem of the increasing disappearance of most of the world's tongues and how they are classified. "Why should we care?", the second chapter, explains the loss we face in the disappearance of each language. Crystal counters myths about language diversity. The existance of so many languages, he notes, is actually good for the market, for instead of fouling up capitalism, it creates competitive advantages when company A decides to deal with a minority group in its own language while company B thinks everyone should just learn English and consequently loses business. He also dispells the old myth peddled around by the Esperanto movement that having a single world language would create peace on Earth--after all, the 20th century has seen some bloody civil wars in places where people speak the same language, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda...

"Why do languages die?" lays out how political oppression and globalization drives the disappearance of languages. One further cause that Crystal mentions, which I had never thought of before, is how the AIDS crisis in Africa will result in the death of myriad languages simply because all their speakers are dying. "Where do we begin?" recommends coordinated action, with both grassroots efforts to instill pride in one's native language combined with top-down government funding to finance traditional-language arts. "What can be done?" continues the previous chapter with a more long-range view.

If you find languages fascinating in the least bit, you should read LANGUAGE DEATH.

[Nahal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language Death- 2.5 stars
The first two-thirds of this book were so lovely to read. The information was somewhat new and interesting. The last bit, not so much. It felt dry and repetitive, and by the end, I remember thinking Well, I don't think I've learned anything new and the new things I've already forgotten.
Overall, a good book to start understanding the depth and importance of languages and their magnitude.

[Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about the book. On the one hand, it is a necessary and important intervention into the field of linguistics and an attempt to politicise the study of language as a form of environmentalism for the general interest of society. At the same time however, the book comes short in dealing with the political and economic aspects entailed in cultural and linguistic conservationism, and lacks substance, often times referring to linguistic situations that have either nothing in common with one another (the status of Afrikaans is not equal to the decline of Dyirbal) and which correspond to their own unique and uncomfortable issues. I wasn't entirely convinced that linguists are necessary for the sort of conservationism in question, and the sort of difficulties that Crystal's project will inevitably run into will also clash with the institutionalisation of philanthropy and its mediation through the state. An important shot across the bow, but linguists and language conservation demands more militancy, or at the very least, a reading of Bourdieu's Language and Symbolic Power collection.

EDIT: After some more thoughts and reflection, I feel it is important to also mention that Crystal's suggestions for how to proceed with language revivalism also are problematic beyond a surface analysis. The ethics of linguistic fieldwork are a mess for the same reason that anthropological fieldwork is, but there is a latent idealism that sees the political situation of linguistic communities as an externality, inconvenience, or an unfortunate reality, rather than the constitution of the communities' social spaces as such. This line of surface thinking is harmless until the suggestions for how to proceed with building an educational structure to teach new members of a community the language of their society formally begin to reflect a slightly alienating methodology. Crystal believes, or observes in some sense, that education is universalistic and that teachers need to be educated as one would assume one would teach another human being in how to perform professional labour, without real consideration of the differences and conflicts that can surface when bringing supposedly universalistic pedagogic approaches to communities who face cultural and socioeconomic danger. Whilst Crystal generally does consider that cultural differences will play a role in any form of linguistic conservationism, there is a current which reminds me of humanist Jesuit missions in how it approaches these situations. Western teaching models require the sort of evaluation themselves that they need to be adapted to the context of teaching language, so that they are not subordinated to the same social and political pressures as the Prussian model of schooling enforces (that of instructing children in either some form of classical academic pursuit that idealises the school system as a whole, or one whose explicit aim is merely the future integration into the labour market). I have no doubt that Crystal's intentions are good, but at the same time, the unavoidability of considering the spaces in which language is produced and especially how the sorts of tensions that give rise to the destruction and levelling of languages are recreated in the classroom beyond ignorance, but as structural problems reproducing themselves precisely through the sort of aloof theoreticism that theoretical linguistics is supposed to be confronted with by those working in applied linguistics. In short, one should not rely on this book as a roadmap, but should seek out the work of critical anthropology and pedagogy especially as a complement.

[Dawn's book diary · Rating 5 out of 5]

«زبان هنگامی می‌میرد که هیچ‌کس به آن سخن نگوید.»
بله، و این کتاب هم به همین موضوع می‌پردازه. دیوید کریستالِ زبان‌شناس در پنج فصل پدیده‌ی مرگ زبان رو از ابعاد مختلف بررسی کرده. اول از همه به این سوال پاسخ داده که مرگ زبان چیه و اصلاً چه شرایطی رو می‌شه مرگ زبان اعلام کرد.
توی فصل دوم چرایی اهمیت این موضوع رو بررسی کرده چون خیلیا اصلاً چیزی راجع به این قضیه نمی‌دونن و یا اهمیت موضوع رو درک نمی‌کنن.
فصل سوم به این مسئله می‌پردازه که اصلاً چی می‌شه که زبان‌ها می‌میرن. این فصل که دلایل فرهنگی، اجتماعی، سیاسی و حتی اقتصادی برای مرگ زبان ارائه می‌ده از نظر من جالب‌ترین فصل کتابه مخصوصاً با مثال‌هایی که از زبان‌های درخطر، نجات‌یافته و یا منقرض‌شده می‌ده.
و در دو فصل آخر نویسنده راهکارهایی رو برای جلوگیری از این واقعه می‌ده؛ راهکارهایی که معمولاً در بلندمدت جواب می‌دن و اکثراً باید توسط نهادهای بین‌المللی، دولت‌ها و زبان‌شناسان انجام بشن. مخصوصاً زبان‌شناسان که وظیفه‌ی آگاه کردن مردم رو هم به عهده دارن.
اگه به زبان و زبان‌شناسی علاقه دارین، این کتابو توصیه می‌کنم.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book that is clearly organized and clearly explains its topic, laying out and defining different degrees of language endangerment, methods of combatting it, and why doing so is important. This book makes me want to put on a cape and get out there and save moribund languages. The back of the book holds a nice list of organizations working to save languages as well as a useful list of references.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, but nothing special. There were some good moments, but overall the style was far too dry and felt somewhat like a textbook. There was nothing to bring the issue to life and connect with the reader, some case studies would have really helped.

[Vimal Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent attempt to bring an important issue of society: language death. Importance of diversity in languages and dire need to preserve the languages are clearly highlighted.

overall, it is a great book.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm always a fan of David Crystal. Which is probably why I didn't rate this too highly. The first half was an interesting read, but nothing particularly illuminating if you've read his other works, and the second half, whilst interesting, was a bit of a crawl. But it kept me reading, if for no other reason than I'm fascinated with the subject matter, and any work produced on it is worthy.

[Mairi_k · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking but fascinating.

[Juliet Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and sobering investigation into the issue of endangered languages.

From the point of view of this blog, the most interesting thing about this book is that it looks at language endangerment from an ecological viewpoint. Linguistic diversity is as important culturally as biodiversity is to nature, yet very few people see it that way.

The book examines how languages have evolved to suit specific environments:

'...indigenous communities have developed a hugely diverse set of responses in lifestyle as they relate and react to the many differences in local environmental conditions. And it is language that unifies everything, linking environmental practice with cultural knowledge'

The loss of a minority language can mean the loss of a unique way of looking and relating to the world. If people lose their native language they risk losing their connection to their land and their community's inherited knowledge about the local ecology. Biological science too has learned from this knowledge, Kunwinjku, an Aboriginal Australian language for example, has vocabulary that can identify different species of wallabies by the way they hop - a fact that has recently been 'discovered' by computer analysis of moving wallabies.

The book also shows how environmental factors can contribute to language loss, for example, famine or other environmental disasters can cause small populations to collapse as people migrate away from their homes in search of safety. Often a language with only a few speakers can't survive such an impact and is pushed closer to extinction.

The second part of the book focuses very much on how field linguists can effectively and sensitively help local communities to preserve their languages and pass them on to the next generation.

[Brad McKenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rougher-than-usual effort by Mr. Crystal. I think that's because it's an aggregation of about a half-dozen other linguists' thoughts. It made for an interesting if not engaging read. As for my takeaways:

Sometimes the reason for language death is death. Whether it's genocide by the dominate culture and their language or if it's for economic reasons; family can't afford to properly take care of their babies and they die before acquiring the language, it the people are dying, the language is too. (the babies part was from p. 104)

There are an estimated 7000 languages in the world but the majority of people speak one of eight: English, Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish, French, Arabic, Bengali, and Russian.

Sometimes a language is put on The Green Mile because of forced assimilation (e.g. Native American boarding schools.) and sometimes it's because the next generation feels shame in their language and drop it in favor of the dominant language so that they may get ahead.

The book goes on to list various ways to help a language come back from the brink but economics can get in the way. It's expensive and not everyone sees the value in preserving the languages. The members of the community, too, have a say. External forces, such as linguists, can't have the final say in whether or not a language survives, that's up the the language users.

As with just about anything, the situation is nuanced and there's not right answer here. That's why I felt it important to read up on it; to gain a deeper insight into the situation. This book, though twenty years old, does that.

[Thomas Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering this man is at the heart of elite academic colonial institutions, this is a surprisingly considerate look at the issues involved and the need to strike a balance between well-intended linguistic field workers and the linguistic communities they wish to serve. Communities whose languages are in rapid decline as a result of the genocidal legacy of the government and academy that the field workers serve and come from. While intentions may have changed and a new generation of white liberal linguists have had their epiphanies that maybe erasing language, knowledge, and identities is a loss for humanity, the Indigenous communities have a long memory. Indeed, isn't it comical that genociding colonizers are now sweeping in to rescue the same languages they tried to erase. Reconciling, revitalizing, healing. After saying, "It was us; we did that," what is the next step? We apologise. We say it's crucial to revitalise endangered languages that aren't our own; however, then we refuse to fund the projects or give education grants and full scholarships to interested First Nation youth so they can lead the stewardship and revitalizing of their own languages and identities.

Indeed, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?

This book is great to awaken people to a problem many haven't seen or thought of; however, where does that leave us? It feels as though we're just left to witness a mass extinction event in the coming decades.

[Judith Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book out from my local library in Wales after watching 'Stori'r Iaith' on S4C, the Welsh-language TV channel. It's a fascinating read, and gives me more reasons why it's so worthwhile (for me) learning Welsh - a beautiful language which has been under attack by the dominant language of English for centuries, but, as in the words of Dafydd Iwan's song, "R'yn yma o hyd" - "We're still here"! There's a Welsh saying mentioned in the book :

Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon

(A nation without a language is a nation without a heart).

Of course, this book is about all endangered languages, not just Welsh. It quotes Russian writer Vjaceslav Ivanov:

'Each language constitutes a certain model of the universe, a semiotic system of understanding the world, and if we have 4,000 different ways to describe the world, this makes us rich. We should be concerned about preserving languages just as we are about ecology.'

[Richard Archambault · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this is an important book, with an important message, I can't bring myself to giving it more than 3 stars. It was very academic, almost text-book at times, and so some sections felt like a chore to slog through, and I ended up skimming. The parts that gave concrete examples were, of course, more interesting. One thing I disagreed with: the notion that it's possible that the world will have but one language in a few centuries (likely English). No. Just no. I concede that it's possible that things may degrade so badly that we'll have less than 100 languages, but just 1? I can't see that as being at all realistic.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Crystal's very accessible writing style, and it is clear that he cares a lot about this topic. He draws examples and cases from a variety of languages and parts of the world, and although I think he is very upfront about who and what are to blame, he doesn't spend too much time focused on blame. Instead he looks at what has been done and what can be done, and he looks at the human cost of language death in a compassionate way.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine introduction to the issue of language endangerment & revitalization. Definitely recommend reading it, as well as the references cited, and writings about the subject since its publication (in 2000). The field has grown so much more in the past couple of decades!

[Mary L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly, I didn't read Language Death of my own free will. I read this book for my language planning and policy class.
I like some of the points Crystal makes, but this is a bit too Western, colonialist-centric for my taste.

[Book busy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was bland, but better than English as a Global Language. To say I liked it would be a stretch as I felt sometimes the point was hammered to a pulp but maybe that works for some people. Still, it was useful for stats and general foundational theory.

[Rapasphong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book as a reference for my sociolinguistics class. Very comprehensive and fun to read, mad me become a David Crystals' fan ever since.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clearly written and informative overview of the issues surrounding language death and Crystal makes a compelling appeal for action to preserve endangered languages.

[Leah Darby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for school.

[sincerely, jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Ana Corte González · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ensayo asequible, cualquier público lo puede comprender. El tema que trata es muy interesante y lo expone con claridad. ¡Muy recomendable!

[Heather Judd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of amazing ideas here. I kept hoping the outlook would turn around and Crystal would say something positive, but in the end his views seemed to conclude that the cause is both hopeless and worth fighting for.

[Dec · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely essential book for those interested in the effects of language loss and extinction, particularly when it comes to oral cultures without writing. Covers a huge range of theory, highlights key texts, and yet makes the topic approachable and enjoyable. A Brilliant book!

[Aš · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ne man. Mėginau skaityti, važiuojant automobiliu. Bandžiau, tapti intelektualesnė... Atsimenu tik dvi pastraipas iš šios knygos.

[Jenn Golden · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Crystal is always an entertaining and educational voice in linguistics. His vide on Shakespeare's Original Pronunciation with his son Ben Crystal who is an actor, is a comfort favorite of mine.

I found this discussion of language death to be detailed and nuanced. A great entry point into this area of research. Crystal answers questions like what is language death? When is a language dead vs. dying? Crystal summarizes and categorizes the research to show there aren't simple answers to what causes a language to die or what can be done or who can help, but that the lack of simple answers doesn't mean that it's hopeless because there are general trends.

[CM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary in 1 sentence:
We are going to lose a quarter or more of our languages in this century (but the public can just stay away from this urgent issue and let the linguists do all the work.)

Unlike his other popular language books that may feel like a long list of well-written trivia, this one is a comprehensive study on a single subject(the death, or extinction, of certain language). It makes the experience so much more,for a lack of a better word(and I know it may sound creepy to a subject like this one), satisfying.

Mr Crystal answers 5 questions(1 for each chapter) here:"What is Language Death?","Why should we care?","Why do languages die?","Where do we begin?" and "What can be done?". As usual, Mr Crystal is knowledgeable and engaging. Here the writing can be a tiny bit more for an educated audience but it is still very much accessible to everyone. I am impressed when the author provides quite a strong counter-argument to his own (with a clear citation so I can find that journal article easily) and he honestly discusses how his view differs.

I am not giving it 4 stars because his advice about what one can do(the last two chapters, which are exactly half of this slim volume) seems to address his other fellow linguists more when the backcover and preface say the advice can be useful for the concerned public. And as a work to raise awareness of the issue, more can be written about the death than the preventive measures.

[Emily Bragg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting ideas, but I got particularly frustrated with the section later in the book that talked about how it didn't cost anything to have webpages in \insert dying language with non-standard characters here\. So false, and while software is catching up on internationalization, there is a tremendous cost to adding new language support for extremely small-scale languages, particularly from the cost per user perspective. However, this book was written a while ago, and if I had to guess, the internet promotes use of central languages at the expense of local languages.