Editing Language revitalization (section)

{{Short description|Effort to promote an endangered language or revive a dead language}}
{{use dmy dates |date=March 2024}}
'''Language revitalization''', also referred to as '''language revival''' or '''reversing language shift''', is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one.<ref>Tsunoda, Tasaku. Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 2005. p. 169. Print.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=http://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-8 |chapter=Language Revitalization |last1=Pine|first1=Aidan|last2=Turin|first2=Mark|date=2017-03-29 |publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=1|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.8|title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics |isbn=9780199384655 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/3941256}}</ref> Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, or governments. Some argue for a distinction between '''language revival''' (the resurrection of an [[extinct language]] with no existing native speakers) and '''language revitalization''' (the rescue of a "dying" language). There has only been one successful instance of a complete language revival: [[Revival of the Hebrew language|that of the Hebrew language]].<ref name="GrenobleWhaley">{{cite book |last1=Grenoble |first1=Leonore A. |last2=Whaley |first2=Lindsay J. |title=Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization |year=2005 |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521016520 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vavj5-hdDgQC&pg=PA63 |page=63 |quote=Hebrew is cited by Paulston et al. (1993:276) as 'the only true example of language revival.'}}</ref>

Languages targeted for language revitalization include those whose use and prominence is [[Endangered language|severely limited]]. Sometimes various tactics of language revitalization can even be used to try to revive [[extinct language]]s. Though the goals of language revitalization vary greatly from case to case, they typically involve attempting to expand the number of speakers and use of a language, or trying to maintain the current level of use to protect the language from extinction or [[language death]].

Reasons for revitalization vary: they can include physical danger affecting those whose language is dying, economic danger such as the exploitation of indigenous natural resources, political danger such as genocide, or cultural danger/assimilation.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Crystal |first=David |date=2010 |title=Language Planning |encyclopedia=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language |edition=Third |editor-first=David |editor-last=Crystal |pages=382–387|location=New York, NY |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref> In recent times{{when|date=January 2015}} alone, it is estimated that more than 2000 languages have already become extinct. The UN estimates that more than half of the languages spoken today have fewer than 10,000 speakers and that a quarter have fewer than 1,000 speakers; and that, unless there are some efforts to maintain them, over the next hundred years most of these will become extinct.<ref name=UNESCO>{{cite web |title=Endangered Languages |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/ |access-date=2014-04-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409141047/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/ |archive-date=2014-04-09}}</ref> These figures are often cited as reasons why language revitalization is necessary to preserve linguistic diversity. Culture and identity are also frequently cited reasons for language revitalization, when a language is perceived as a unique "cultural treasure."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grenoble |first1=Leonore A. |last2=Whaley |first2=Lindsay J. |title=Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization |year=2005 |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521016520 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vavj5-hdDgQC&pg=PA20}}</ref> A community often sees language as a unique part of its culture, connecting it with its ancestors or with the land, making up an essential part of its history and self-image.<ref>Tsunoda, Tasaku. Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 2005. Print.</ref>

Language revitalization is also closely tied to the linguistic field of [[language documentation]]. In this field, linguists try to create a complete record of a language's grammar, vocabulary, and linguistic features. This practice can often lead to more concern for the revitalization of a specific language on study. Furthermore, the task of documentation is often taken on with the goal of revitalization in mind.<ref>New Perspectives on Endangered Languages. Ed. José A.F. Farfán and Fernando F. Ramallo. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2010. pp. 1-7. Print.</ref>