Editing Language death (section)

== Language revitalization ==
{{Main|Language revitalization}}
Language revitalization is an attempt to slow or reverse language death.<ref>{{Cite book|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|title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics|date=2017-03-29|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.8|isbn=9780199384655}}</ref> Revitalization programs are ongoing in many languages, and have had varying degrees of success.

The [[revival of the Hebrew language]] in [[Israel]] is the only example of a language's acquiring new [[first language]] speakers after it became extinct in everyday use for an extended period, being used only as a [[liturgical language]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U5yXCgAAQBAJ |title=The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice |last2= |first2= |date=2013-06-13 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-26172-3 |editor-last=Hinton |editor-first=Leanne |location=Leiden |language=en |editor-last2=Hale |editor-first2=Kenneth}}</ref> Even in the case of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], there is a theory that argues that "the Hebrew revivalists who wished to speak pure Hebrew failed. The result is a fascinating and multifaceted Israeli language, which is not only multi-layered but also multi-sourced. The revival of a clinically dead language is unlikely without cross-fertilization from the revivalists' mother tongue(s)."<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |author-link1=Ghil'ad Zuckermann |last1=Zuckermann |first1=Ghil'ad |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25980525-25192,00.html |title=Aboriginal languages deserve revival |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923233756/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25980525-25192,00.html |archive-date=2009-09-23 |website=The Australian Higher Education |date=August 26, 2009}}</ref>

Other cases of language revitalization that have seen some degree of success are [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]], and [[Navajo language|Navajo]].<ref>{{multiref|For Welsh and Hawaiian: {{cite web | last=Griffiths | first=James | title=Welsh was saved from extinction. Cantonese might not be so lucky | website=CNN | date=9 April 2019 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/09/asia/endangered-languages-welsh-hawaiian-cantonese-intl/index.html | access-date=18 June 2024}} |For Basque: {{cite news | author=<!--unstated--> | title=The struggle to preserve regional languages | newspaper=The Economist | date=25 August 2022 | url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/08/25/the-struggle-to-preserve-regional-languages | access-date=18 June 2024 |url-access=subscription}} |For Hawaiian: {{cite journal |last1=Warschauer |first1=Mark |last2=Donaghy |first2=Keola |date=1997 |title=Leokī: A Powerful Voice of Hawaiian Language Revitalization |url=https://education.uci.edu/uploads/7/2/7/6/72769947/leoki-_a_powerful_voice_of_hawaiian_language_revitalization.pdf |journal=Computer Assisted Language Learning |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=349–362 |doi=10.1080/0958822970100405 |access-date=17 June 2024}} {{free access}}|For Navajo: {{cite web |url=https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/HOS/HOS3.pdf |title="Think In Navajo": Reflections from the Field on Reversing Navajo Language Shift in Homes, Schools and Communities  |last1=Werito |first1=Vincent |date=2020 |publisher=[[Northern Arizona University]]}}}}</ref>

Reasons for language revitalization vary: they can include physical danger affecting those whose language is dying, economic danger such as the [[exploitation of natural resources]], political danger such as [[genocide]], or cultural danger such as [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]].<ref>Crystal, David.  2010.  "Language Planning".  In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Third Edition, edited by David Crystal, 382–387.  New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.</ref> During the past century, it is estimated that more than 2,000 languages have already become extinct. The [[United Nations]] (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/ |website=UNESCO |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. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vavj5-hdDgQC&pg=PA20 |title=Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization |last2=Whaley |first2=Lindsay J. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0521016520 |location= |page=20}}</ref> A community often sees language as a unique part of their culture, connecting them with their ancestors or with the land, making up an essential part of their history and self-image.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tsunoda |first=Tasaku |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVAgAAAAQBAJ |title=Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization: An Introduction |date=2013-02-06 |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |isbn=978-3-11-089658-9 |location=Berlin |language=en}}</ref>

According to [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]], "language reclamation will become increasingly relevant as people seek to recover their cultural autonomy, empower their spiritual and intellectual sovereignty, and improve wellbeing. There are various ethical, aesthetic, and utilitarian benefits of language revival—for example, historical justice, diversity, and employability, respectively."<ref name="Stop, revive and survive" />