Editing Endangered language (section)

==Effects==
Language endangerment affects both the languages themselves and the people that speak them. This also affects the essence of a culture. 

===Effects on communities===
As communities lose their language, they often lose parts of their cultural traditions that are tied to that language. Examples include songs, myths, poetry, local remedies, ecological and geological knowledge, as well as language behaviors that are not easily translated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/four-things-happen-when-language-dies-and-one-thing-you-can-do-help-180962188/|title=Four Things That Happen When a Language Dies|last=Eschner|first=Kat|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> Furthermore, the social structure of one's community is often reflected through speech and language behavior. This pattern is even more prominent in dialects. This may in turn affect the sense of identity of the individual and the community as a whole, producing a weakened social cohesion as their values and traditions are replaced with new ones. This is sometimes characterized as [[anomie]]. Losing a language may also have political consequences as some countries confer different political statuses or privileges on minority ethnic groups, often defining ethnicity in terms of language. In turn, communities that lose their language may also lose political legitimacy as a community with special [[collective rights]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Language can also be considered as scientific knowledge in topics such as medicine, philosophy, botany, and more. It reflects a community's practices when dealing with the environment and each other. When a language is lost, this knowledge is often lost as well.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Guérin|first1=Valérie|last2=Yourupi|first2=Paulina|year=2017|chapter=Language Endangerment|title=Languages of the Pacific Islands: Introductory Readings|editor1=Hiroko Sato|editor2=Joel Bradshaw|edition=2nd|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing|pages=209–219|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/43876728}}</ref><!---Bad publishing venue, yes, but editors and authors of the volume are reputed mainstream scholars--->

In contrast, language revitalization is correlated with better health outcomes in indigenous communities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Whalen|first1=D. H.|last2=Moss|first2=Margaret|last3=Baldwin|first3=Daryl|title=Healing through language: Positive physical health effects of indigenous language use|journal=F1000Research|date=9 May 2016|volume=5|pages=852|doi=10.12688/f1000research.8656.1|url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&context=gc_pubs|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Effects on languages===
During language loss—sometimes referred to as ''obsolescence'' in the linguistic literature—the language that is being lost generally undergoes changes as speakers make their language more similar to the language that they are shifting to. For example, gradually losing grammatical or phonological complexities that are not found in the dominant language.<ref>[[Nancy Dorian|Dorian, Nancy]] C. 1978. The Fate of Morphological Complexity in Language Death: Evidence from East Sutherland Gaelic. ''Language'' Vol. 54, No. 3: 590–609.</ref><ref>Schmidt, Annette. 1985. "The Fate of Ergativity in Dying Dyirbal". ''Language'' Vol. 61, No. 2: 378–396.</ref>

===Ethical considerations and attitudes===
Generally the accelerated pace of language endangerment is considered to be a problem by linguists and by the speakers. However, some linguists, such as the phonetician [[Peter Ladefoged]], have argued that language death is a natural part of the process of human cultural development, and that languages die because communities stop speaking them for their own reasons. Ladefoged argued that linguists should simply document and describe languages scientifically, but not seek to interfere with the processes of language loss.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ladefoged |first1=Peter |title=Another view of endangered languages |journal=Language |date=1992 |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=809–811 |doi=10.1353/lan.1992.0013 |jstor=416854|s2cid=144984900 }}</ref> A similar view has been argued at length by linguist [[Salikoko Mufwene]], who sees the cycles of language death and emergence of new languages through [[Creole language|creolization]] as a continuous ongoing process.<ref>Mufwene, Salikoko (2004). "Language birth and death". Annual Review of Anthropology 33: 201–222.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mufwene |first1=Salikoko S. |title=The Ecology of Language Evolution |date=30 August 2001 |publisher=Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511612862 |isbn=0-511-01934-3}}</ref><ref>Mufwene, Salikoko (2008). Language Evolution: Contact, Competition and Change. Continuum International Publishing Group.</ref>

A majority of linguists do consider that language loss is an ethical problem, as they consider that most communities would prefer to maintain their languages if given a real choice. They also consider it a scientific problem, because language loss on the scale currently taking place will mean that future linguists will only have access to a fraction of the world's linguistic diversity, therefore their picture of what human language is—and can be—will be limited.<ref>Hale, Krauss, Watahomigie, Yamamoto, Craig, & Jeanne 1992</ref><ref>Austin & Sallabank 2011</ref><ref>Nettle & Romaine 2000</ref><ref>Skuttnabb-Kangas 2000</ref><ref>Austin 2009</ref>

Some linguists consider linguistic diversity to be analogous to biological diversity, and compare language endangerment to [[Endangered species|wildlife endangerment]].<ref>Maffi L, ed. 2001. On Biocultural Diversity: Linking Language, Knowledge, and the Environment. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Inst. Press</ref>