Editing Language revitalization

{{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>

== Degrees of language endangerment ==
{{more citations needed|section|date=October 2021}}

=== UNESCO's Language Vitality and Endangerment Framework ===
Uses a six-point scale is as follows:<ref>{{Cite conference |publisher=UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages |year=2003 |title=Language Vitality and Endangerment |url=https://ich.unesco.org/doc/src/00120-EN.pdf |conference=International Expert Meeting on UNESCO Programme Safeguarding of Endangered Languages |page=8 |access-date=26 September 2024 }}</ref>
* Safe: All generations use language in variety of settings
* Stable: Multilingualism in the native language and one or more dominant language(s) has usurped certain important communication context.
* Definitively Endangered: spoken by older people; not fully used by younger generations.
* Severely Endangered: Only a few adult speakers remain; no longer used as [[first language|native language]] by children.
* Critically Endangered: The language is spoken only by grandparents and older generations.
* Extinct: There is no one who can speak or remember the language.

=== Other scales ===
Another scale for identifying degrees of language endangerment is used in a 2003 paper ("Language Vitality and Endangerment") commissioned by [[UNESCO]] from an international group of linguists. The linguists, among other goals and priorities, create a scale with six degrees for language vitality and endangerment.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Language_vitality_and_endangerment_EN.pdf |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160221202039/https://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/Language_vitality_and_endangerment_EN.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2016 |title=Language Vitality and Endangerment |publisher=UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages |date=March 2003}}</ref> They also propose nine factors or criteria (six of which use the six-degree scale) to "characterize a language’s overall sociolinguistic situation".<ref name=":2" /> The nine factors with their respective scales are:

# Intergenerational language transmission
#* safe: all generations use the language
#* unsafe: some children use the language in all settings, all children use the language in some settings
#* definitively endangered: few children speak the language; predominantly spoken by the parental generation and older
#* severely endangered: spoken by older generations; not used by the parental generation and younger
#* critically endangered: few speakers remain and are mainly from the great grandparental generation
#* extinct: no living speakers
# Absolute number of speakers
# Proportion of speakers within the total population
#* safe: the language is spoken by approximately 100% of the population
#* unsafe: the language is spoken by nearly but visibly less than 100% of the population
#* definitively endangered: the language is spoken by a majority of the population
#* severely endangered: the language is spoken by less than 50% of the population
#* critically endangered: the language has very few speakers
#* extinct: no living speakers
# Trends in existing language domains
#* universal use (safe): spoken in all domains; for all functions
#* multilingual parity (unsafe): multiple languages (2+) are spoken in most social domains; for most functions
#* dwindling domains (definitively endangered): mainly spoken in home domains and is in competition with the dominant language; for many functions
#* limited or formal domains (severely endangered): spoken in limited social domains; for several functions
#* highly limited domains (critically endangered): spoken in highly restricted domains; for minimal functions
#* extinct: no domains; no functions
# Response to new domains and media
#* dynamic (safe): spoken in all new domains
#* robust/active (unsafe): spoken in most new domains
#* receptive (definitively endangered): spoken in many new domains
#* coping (severely endangered): spoken in some new domains
#* minimal (critically endangered): spoken in minimal new domains
#* inactive (extinct): spoken in no new domains
# Materials for language education and literacy
#* safe: established orthography and extensive access to educational materials
#* unsafe: access to educational materials; children developing literacy; not used by administration
#* definitively endangered: access to educational materials exist at school; literacy in language is not promoted
#* severely endangered: literacy materials exist however are not present in school curriculum
#* critically endangered: orthography is known and some written materials exist
#* extinct: no orthography is known
# Governmental and institutional language attitudes and policies (including official status and use)
#* equal support (safe): all languages are equally protected
#* differentiated support (unsafe): primarily protected for private domains
#* passive assimilation (definitively endangered): no explicit protective policy; language use dwindles in public domain
#* active assimilation (severely endangered): government discourages use of language; no governmental protection of language in any domain
#* forced assimilation (critically endangered): language is not recognized or protected; government recognized another official language
#* prohibition (extinct): use of language is banned
# Community members' attitudes towards their own language
#* safe: language is revered, valued, and promoted by whole community
#* unsafe: language maintenance is supported by most of the community
#* definitively endangered: language maintenance is supported by much of the community; the rest are indifferent or support language loss
#* severely endangered: language maintenance is supported by some of the community; the rest are indifferent or support language loss
#* critically endangered: language maintenance is supported by only a few members of the community; the rest are indifferent or support language loss
#* extinct: complete apathy towards language maintenance; prefer dominant language
# Amount and quality of documentation.
#* superlative (safe): extensive audio, video, media, and written documentation of the language
#* good (unsafe): audio, video, media, and written documentation all exist; a handful of each
#* fair (definitively endangered): some audio and video documentation exists; adequate written documentation
#* fragmentary (severely endangered): limited audio and video documentation exists at low quality; minimal written documentation
#* inadequate (critically endangered): only a handful of written documentation exists
#* undocumented (extinct): no documentation exists

== Theory ==
One of the most important preliminary steps in language revitalization/recovering involves establishing the degree to which a particular language has been “dislocated.” This helps involved parties find the best way to assist or revive the language.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tsunoda|first=Tasaku|title=Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization|year=2005|publisher=Mounton de Gruyter|location=Berlin|page=170}}</ref>

=== Steps in reversing language shift ===
There are many different theories or models that attempt to lay out a plan for language revitalization. One of these is provided by celebrated linguist [[Joshua Fishman]].
Fishman's model for reviving threatened (or sleeping) languages, or for making them sustainable,<ref>Fishman, J. A. (1991). ''Reversing language Shift: Theory and Practice of Assistance to Threatened Languages''. Clevedon : Multilingual Matters.</ref><ref>Fishman, J. A. (ed.) (2001). ''Can Threatened Languages Be Saved? Reversing Language Shift, Revisited: A 21st Century Perspective''. Clevedon : Multilingual Matters.</ref> consists of an eight-stage process. Efforts should be concentrated on the earlier stages of restoration until they have been consolidated before proceeding to the later stages. The eight stages are:

#Acquisition of the language by adults, who in effect act as language apprentices (recommended where most of the remaining speakers of the language are elderly and socially isolated from other speakers of the language).
#Create a socially integrated population of active speakers (or users) of the language (at this stage it is usually best to concentrate mainly on the spoken language rather than the written language).
#In localities where there are a reasonable number of people habitually using the language, encourage the informal use of the language among people of all age groups and within families and bolster its daily use through the establishment of local neighbourhood institutions in which the language is encouraged, protected and (in certain contexts at least) used exclusively.
#In areas where oral competence in the language has been achieved in all age groups, encourage literacy in the language, but in a way that does not depend upon assistance from (or goodwill of) the state education system.
#Where the state permits it, and where numbers warrant, encourage the use of the language in compulsory state education.
#Where the above stages have been achieved and consolidated, encourage the use of the language in the workplace.
#Where the above stages have been achieved and consolidated, encourage the use of the language in local government services and mass media.
#Where the above stages have been achieved and consolidated, encourage use of the language in higher education, government, etc.

This model of language revival is intended to direct efforts to where they are most effective and to avoid wasting energy trying to achieve the later stages of recovery when the earlier stages have not been achieved. For instance, it is probably wasteful to campaign for the use of a language on television or in government services if hardly any families are in the habit of using the language.

Additionally, Tasaku Tsunoda describes a range of different techniques or methods that speakers can use to try to revitalize a language, including techniques to revive extinct languages and maintain weak ones. The techniques he lists are often limited to the current vitality of the language.

He claims that the [[Language immersion|immersion]] method cannot be used to revitalize an extinct or moribund language. In contrast, the master-apprentice method of one-on-one transmission on language proficiency can be used with moribund languages. Several other methods of revitalization, including those that rely on technology such as recordings or media, can be used for languages in any state of viability.<ref name=illustrate>{{cite book |last=Tsunoda |first=Tasaku |title=Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization |location=Berlin |publisher=Mouton [[De Gruyter]] |year=2005 |page=201 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ A method's effectiveness depends on the language's viability.<ref name=illustrate/>
! Method 
! colspan="3" |[[Degree of endangerment]]
|-
! !! Weakening !! Moribund !! Dead/extinct
|-
| Immersion|| {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Neighborhood || {{yes|effective}}|| {{no|ineffective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Bilingual || {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Master-apprentice || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| [[Total physical response]] || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Telephone || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{no|ineffective}}
|-
| Radio || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Multimedia || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Two-way || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Formulaic|| {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Artificial [[pidgin]]|| {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Place name || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Reclamation || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|-
| Adoption|| {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}} || {{yes|effective}}
|}

=== Factors in successful language revitalization ===
[[David Crystal]], in his book ''Language Death'', proposes that language revitalization is more likely to be successful if its speakers:
* increase the [[language's prestige]] within the dominant community;
* increase their wealth and income;
* increase their legitimate power in the eyes of the dominant community;
* have a strong presence in the education system;
* can write down the language;
* can use electronic technology.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crystal |first=D. |date=2000 |title=Language Death |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=130–141 |isbn=0-521-65321-5}}</ref>

In her book, ''Endangered Languages: An Introduction,'' [[Sarah Thomason]] notes the success of revival efforts for modern Hebrew and the relative success of revitalizing Maori in New Zealand (see ''Specific Examples'' below). One notable factor these two examples share is that the children were raised in fully immersive environments.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomason |first=Sarah |title=Endangered Languages: An Introduction |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-521-68453-8 |location=United Kingdom |pages=6}}</ref> In the case of Hebrew, it was on early collective-communities called [[kibbutz]]im.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomason |first=Sarah |title=Endangered Languages: An Introduction |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-521-68453-8 |location=United Kingdom |pages=156–159}}</ref> For the Maori language In New Zealand, this was done through a [[language nest]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomason |first=Sarah |title=Endangered Languages: An Introduction |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-521-68453-8 |location=United Kingdom |pages=165}}</ref>

=== Revival linguistics ===
[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]] proposes "Revival Linguistics" as a new linguistic discipline and paradigm.
{{Blockquote|Zuckermann's term 'Revival Linguistics' is modelled upon 'Contact Linguistics'. Revival linguistics inter alia explores the universal constraints and mechanisms involved in language reclamation, renewal and revitalization. It draws perspicacious comparative insights from one revival attempt to another, thus acting as an epistemological bridge between parallel discourses in various local attempts to revive sleeping tongues all over the globe.<ref>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]] and Walsh, Michael 2011. [https://adelaide.academia.edu/Zuckermann/Papers/267186/Stop_Revive_Survive_Lessons_from_the_Hebrew_Revival_Applicable_to_the_Reclamation_Maintenance_and_Empowerment_of_Aboriginal_Languages_and_Cultures 'Stop, Revive, Survive: Lessons from the Hebrew Revival Applicable to the Reclamation, Maintenance and Empowerment of Aboriginal Languages and Cultures'], ''Australian Journal of Linguistics'' Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 111-127.</ref>}}

According to Zuckermann, "revival linguistics combines scientific studies of native language acquisition and foreign language learning. After all, language reclamation is the most extreme case of second-language learning. Revival linguistics complements the established area of [[language documentation|documentary linguistics]], which records endangered languages before they fall asleep."<ref name=autogenerated1 />

Zuckermann proposes that "revival linguistics changes the field of historical linguistics by, for instance, weakening the family [[tree model]], which implies that a language has only one parent."<ref name=autogenerated1 />

There are disagreements in the field of language revitalization as to the degree that revival should concentrate on maintaining the traditional language, versus allowing simplification or widespread borrowing from the [[majority language]].

==== Compromise ====
Zuckermann acknowledges the presence of "local peculiarities and idiosyncrasies"<ref name=autogenerated1>Ghil'ad Zuckermann, [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/opinion/stop-revive-and-survive/story-e6frgcko-1226385194433 "Stop, revive and survive"], ''The Australian, Higher Education'', June 6, 2012.</ref> but suggests that <blockquote>"there are linguistic constraints applicable to all revival attempts. Mastering them would help revivalists and first nations' leaders to work more efficiently. For example, it is easier to resurrect basic vocabulary and verbal conjugations than sounds and word order. Revivalists should be realistic and abandon discouraging, counter-productive slogans such as "Give us authenticity or give us death!"<ref name=autogenerated1 /></blockquote> [[Nancy Dorian]] has pointed out that conservative attitudes toward [[loanwords]] and grammatical changes often hamper efforts to revitalize endangered languages (as with [[Tiwi language|Tiwi]] in Australia), and that a division can exist between educated revitalizers, interested in historicity, and remaining speakers interested in locally authentic idiom (as has sometimes occurred with [[Irish language|Irish]]). Some have argued that structural compromise may, in fact, enhance the prospects of survival, as may have been the case with English in the post-[[Norman period]].<ref>Nancy C. Dorian, ‘Purism v. compromise in language revitalisation and language revival’ in 
''Language in Society'' 23, pp. 479-494.</ref>

==== Traditionalist ====
Other linguists have argued that when language revitalization borrows heavily from the majority language, the result is a new language, perhaps a [[creole language|creole]] or [[pidgin]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Mari C. |title=Language Obsolescence and Revitalization: Linguistic Change in Two Sociolinguistically Contrasting Welsh Communities |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |isbn=9780198237112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9u_GG41b_8C&q=neo+breton+language&pg=PA323 |access-date=6 April 2017 |language=en |year=1998 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> For example, the existence of "Neo-Hawaiian" as a separate language from "Traditional Hawaiian" has been proposed, due to the heavy influence of English on every aspect of the revived Hawaiian language.<ref>{{cite journal |first=R. Keao |last=NeSmith |title=Tūtū's Hawaiian and the Emergence of a Neo Hawaiian Language |journal='Ōiwi Journal3—A Native Hawaiian Journal |date=2005 |url=http://hstrial-knesmith.homestead.com/Oiwi-Journal-_3-1-09_.pdf |access-date=6 April 2017}}</ref> This has also been proposed for Irish, with a sharp division between "Urban Irish" (spoken by second-language speakers) and traditional Irish (as spoken as a first language in [[Gaeltacht]] areas). Ó Béarra stated: "[to] follow the syntax and idiomatic conventions of English, [would be] producing what amounts to little more than English in Irish drag."<ref>{{cite conference |orig-year=2007 |editor-last=Tristram |editor-first=Hildegard L. C. |title=The Celtic Languages in Contact |conference=Thirteenth International Congress of Celtic Studies, Bonn, 26–27 July 2007 |publisher=[[University of Potsdam]] Press |isbn=978-3-940793-07-2 |pages=260–269 |first=Feargal |last=Ó Béarra |chapter=Modern Period: Late Modern Irish and the Dynamics of Language Change and Language Death |date=18 July 2008 |chapter-url=https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/1750/file/260_269.pdf |access-date=6 April 2017 |language=en }}</ref> With regard to the then-moribund [[Manx language]], the scholar T. F. O'Rahilly stated, "When a language surrenders itself to foreign idiom, and when all its speakers become bilingual, the penalty is death."<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Rahilly |first1=Thomas Francis |title=Irish Dialects Past and Present: With Chapters on Scottish and Manx |date=1932 |publisher=Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |location=Dublin |page=121 |isbn=9780901282552 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lmFiAAAAMAAJ |access-date=6 April 2017 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Neil McRae has stated that the uses of [[Scottish Gaelic]] are becoming increasingly tokenistic, and native Gaelic idiom is being lost in favor of artificial terms created by second-language speakers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McRae |first1=Neil |title=Dìlseachd, Lughad agus Saor-thoileachas: moladh airson iomairt Gàidhlig a dh'fhaodadh obrachadh |trans-title=Loyalty, Language and Volunteerism: a proposal for a Gaelic initiative that could work |url=https://www.dropbox.com/s/3p75g1bowhtekzl/Dilseachd%2C%20Lughad%20agus%20Saor-thoileachas%20copy.pdf |access-date=6 April 2017 |language=gd}}</ref>

== Specific examples ==
The total revival of a [[dead language]] (in the sense of having no [[native speaker]]s) to become the shared means of communication of a self-sustaining community of several million [[first language]] speakers has happened only once, in the case of [[Hebrew]], resulting in [[Modern Hebrew]] – now the [[national language]] of [[Israel]]. In this case, there was a unique set of historical and cultural characteristics that facilitated the revival. (See [[Revival of the Hebrew language]].) Hebrew, once largely a [[liturgical language]], was re-established as a means of everyday communication by Jews, some of whom had lived in what is now the State of Israel, starting in the nineteenth century. It is the world's most famous and successful example of language revitalization.

In a related development, [[literary language]]s without [[native speaker]]s enjoyed great prestige and practical utility as [[lingua franca]]s, often counting millions of fluent speakers at a time. In many such cases, a decline in the use of the literary language, sometimes precipitous, was later accompanied by a strong renewal. This happened, for example, in the revival of [[Classical Latin]] in the [[Renaissance]], and the revival of [[Sanskrit]] in the early centuries AD. An analogous phenomenon in contemporary [[Arabic language|Arabic]]-speaking areas is the expanded use of the literary language ([[Modern Standard Arabic]], a form of the [[Classical Arabic]] of the 6th century AD). This is taught to all educated speakers and is used in radio broadcasts, formal discussions, etc.<ref>Kaye, Alan S. "Arabic." Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2007. 560-77. Print.</ref>

In addition, literary languages have sometimes risen to the level of becoming [[first language]]s of very large language communities. An example is standard [[Italian language|Italian]], which originated as a literary language based on the language of 13th-century [[Florence]], especially as used by such important Florentine writers as [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]], [[Petrarch]] and [[Giovanni Boccaccio|Boccaccio]]. This language existed for several centuries primarily as a literary vehicle, with few native speakers; even as late as 1861, on the eve of [[Italian unification]], the language only counted about 500,000 speakers (many non-native), out of a total population of {{circa|22,000,000}}. The subsequent success of the language has been through conscious development, where speakers of any of the numerous [[Italian languages]] were taught standard Italian as a [[second language]] and subsequently imparted it to their children, who learned it as a first language.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} Of course this came at the expense of local Italian languages, most of which are now [[Languages of Italy#Conservation status|endangered]]. Success was enjoyed in similar circumstances by [[German language|High German]], [[Czech language|standard Czech]], [[Spanish language|Castilian Spanish]] and other languages.

=== Africa ===
The [[Coptic language]] began its decline when Arabic became the predominant language in Egypt. [[Pope Shenouda III]] established the Coptic Language Institute in December 1976 in Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in [[Cairo]] for the purpose of reviving the Coptic language.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/16207/Coptic-Ancient-language-still-spoken-today|title=Coptic: Ancient language still spoken today |date=August 8, 2017 |website=EgyptToday}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200121-the-alphabets-at-risk-of-extinction |title=The alphabets at risk of extinction |first=Andrea |last=Valentino |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref>

=== Americas ===
==== North America ====
In recent years, a growing number of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribes have been trying to revitalize their languages.<ref>{{Cite news |title=American Indian tribes turn to technology in race to save endangered languages |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=2013-04-19 |date=2013-04-17 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/american-indian-tribes-turn-to-technology-in-race-to-save-endangered-languages/2013/04/17/56e8a5d0-a72d-11e2-9e1c-bb0fb0c2edd9_story.html}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="Cohen">{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Patricia |title=Indian Tribes Go in Search Of Their Lost Languages |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=1 |date=6 April 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/books/06language.html}}</ref> For example, there are apps (including phrases, word lists and dictionaries) in many Native languages including [[Cree language|Cree]], [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]], [[Chickasaw language|Chickasaw]], [[Lakota language|Lakota]], [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]], [[Oneida language|Oneida]], [[Massachusett language#Revival|Massachusett]], [[Navajo language|Navajo]], [[Halq'emeylem]], [[Gwich'in language|Gwych'in]], and [[Lushootseed language|Lushootseed]].

[[Massachusett language|Wampanoag]], a language spoken by the people of the same name in Massachusetts, underwent a language revival project led by [[Jessie Little Doe Baird]], a trained linguist. Members of the tribe use the extensive written records that exist in their language, including a translation of the Bible and legal documents, in order to learn and teach Wampanoag. The project has seen children speaking the language fluently for the first time in over 100 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jessielittledoe.com/jessie_CV.pdf |title=Jessie Little Doe Baird CV |access-date=2014-11-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810115929/http://www.jessielittledoe.com/jessie_CV.pdf |archive-date=2013-08-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newengland.com/yankee-magazine/living/profiles/wampanoag-language/ |title=The Long-Dead Native Language Wopânâak is Revived |date=October 9, 2012}}</ref> In addition, there are currently attempts at reviving the [[Chochenyo language]] of California, which had become extinct.

Efforts are being made by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community and others to keep [[Chinook Jargon]], also known as [[Chinuk Wawa]], alive. This is helped by the corpus of songs and stories collected from [[Victoria Howard]] and published by [[Melville Jacobs]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tribes strive to save native tongues |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Victoria |title=Clackamas Chinook performance art: verse form interpretations |last2=Mason |first2=Catharine |last3=Jacobs |first3=Melville |date=2021 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press American Indian Research Institute, Indiana University |isbn=978-1-4962-2411-8 |series=Studies in the anthropology of North American Indians series |location=Lincoln Bloomington}}</ref>

The open-source platform [[FirstVoices]] hosts community-managed websites for 85 language revitalization projects, covering multiple varieties of 33 Indigenous languages in [[British Columbia]] as well as over a dozen languages from "elsewhere in Canada and around the globe", along with 17 dictionary apps.<ref>{{cite news |title=FirstVoices celebrates International Mother Language Day with the launch of a new version of its free, open-source, Indigenous |url=https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/globenewswire_press_releases/firstvoices-celebrates-international-mother-language-day-with-the-launch-of-a-new-version-of-its/article_1ed78ef9-2a2c-52ef-a19d-5699304230c2.html |access-date=21 February 2024 |work=Canadian Press |date=21 February 2024}}</ref>

=====Tlingit=====
Similar to other indigenous languages, [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]] is critically endangered.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |title=Breathing Life into New Speakers: Nsyilxcn and Tlingit Sequenced Curriculum, Direct Acquisition, and Assessments |journal=[[Canadian Modern Language Review]] |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=109–132 |last=Johnson |first=S?ímla?xw Michele K. |date=May 2017 |doi=10.3138/cmlr.3549 |s2cid=151866033}}</ref> Fewer than 100 fluent Elders existed as of 2017.<ref name=":0" /> From 2013 to 2014, the language activist, author, and teacher, Sʔímlaʔxw Michele K. Johnson from the Syilx Nation, attempted to teach two hopeful learners of Tlingit in the Yukon.<ref name=":0" /> Her methods included textbook creation, sequenced immersion curriculum, and film assessment.<ref name=":0" /> The aim was to assist in the creation of adult speakers that are of parent-age, so that they too can begin teaching the language. In 2020, X̱ʼunei [[Lance Twitchell]] led a Tlingit online class with [[Outer Coast College]]. Dozens of students participated.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Corinne |title=Free online Tlingit language class sees widespread interest during pandemic |url=https://www.ktoo.org/2020/08/11/free-online-tlingit-language-class-sees-widespread-interest-during-pandemic/ |access-date=25 March 2021 |work=KFSK |publisher=KTOO FM |date=11 August 2020}}</ref> He is an associate professor of Alaska Native Languages in the School of Arts and Sciences at the [[University of Alaska Southeast]] which offers a minor in Tlingit language and an emphasis on Alaska Native Languages and Studies within a Bachelorʼs degree in Liberal Arts.<ref>{{cite news |title=UAS ceremony honors 670 grads |url=https://www.juneauempire.com/news/uas-ceremony-honors-670-grads/ |access-date=25 March 2021 |work=Juneau Empire |date=3 May 2016}}</ref>

==== South America ====
[[Kichwa language|Kichwa]] is the variety of the [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] language spoken in [[Ecuador]] and is one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in South America. Despite this fact, Kichwa is a threatened language, mainly because of the expansion of Spanish in South America. One community of original Kichwa speakers, Lagunas, was one of the first indigenous communities to switch to the Spanish language.<ref name=beginning>{{cite book |last=King |first=Kendall |title=Language Revitalization Processes and Prospects: Quichua in the Ecuadorian Andes |year=2001 |publisher=Multilingual Matters LTD |location=New York |isbn=1-85359-494-6 |pages=71–83}}</ref> According to King, this was because of the increase of trade and business with the large Spanish-speaking town nearby. The Lagunas people assert that it was not for cultural assimilation purposes, as they value their cultural identity highly.<ref name=beginning /> However, once this contact was made, language for the Lagunas people shifted through generations, to Kichwa and Spanish bilingualism and now is essentially Spanish monolingualism. The feelings of the Lagunas people present a dichotomy with language use, as most of the Lagunas members speak Spanish exclusively and only know a few words in Kichwa.

The prospects for Kichwa language revitalization are not promising, as parents depend on schooling for this purpose, which is not nearly as effective as continual language exposure in the home.<ref name=end>{{cite book |last=King |first=Kendall |title=Language Revitalization Processes and Prospects: Quichua in the Ecuadorian Andes |year=2001 |publisher=Multilingual Matters LTD |location=New York |isbn=1-85359-494-6 |pages=187–218}}</ref> Schooling in the Lagunas community, although having a conscious focus on teaching Kichwa, consists of mainly passive interaction, reading, and writing in Kichwa.<ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Kendall |title=Language Revitalization Processes and Prospects: Quichua in the Ecuadorian Andes |year=2001 |publisher=Multilingual Matters LTD |location=New York |isbn=1-85359-494-6|page=140}}</ref> In addition to grassroots efforts, national language revitalization organizations, like [[CONAIE]], focus attention on non-Spanish speaking indigenous children, who represent a large minority in the country. Another national initiative, Bilingual Intercultural Education Project (PEBI), was ineffective in language revitalization because instruction was given in Kichwa and Spanish was taught as a second language to children who were almost exclusively Spanish monolinguals.
Although some techniques seem ineffective, Kendall A. King provides several suggestions:

# Exposure to and acquisition of the language at a young age.
# 
# Extreme immersion techniques.
# 
# Multiple and diverse efforts to reach adults.
# 
# Flexibility and coordination in planning and implementation
# 
# Directly addressing different varieties of the language.
# 
# Planners stressing that language revitalization is a long process
# 
# Involving as many people as possible
# 
# Parents using the language with their children
# 
# Planners and advocates approaching the problem from all directions.

Specific suggestions include imparting an elevated perception of the language in schools, focusing on grassroots efforts both in school and the home, and maintaining national and regional attention.<ref name=end />

=== Asia ===
==== Hebrew ====
{{Further|Revival of the Hebrew language}}
The [[revival of the Hebrew language]] is
the only successful example of a revived dead language.<ref name="GrenobleWhaley" /> The [[Hebrew language]] survived into the medieval period as the language of [[Jewish liturgy]] and [[rabbinic literature]]. With the rise of [[Zionism]] in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, becoming primarily a spoken [[lingua franca]] among the early Jewish immigrants to [[Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem|Ottoman Palestine]] and received the official status in the 1922 constitution of the [[Mandate for Palestine|British Mandate for Palestine]] and subsequently of the [[State of Israel]].<ref>{{cite book |surname=Bar-Adon |given=Aaron |title=The Rise and Decline of a Dialect: A Study in the Revival of Modern Hebrew |year=1975 |publisher=Mouton |url={{Google books|mC80vwEACAAJ|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |isbn=9783111803661}}</ref>

==== Sanskrit ====
{{Further|Sanskrit revival}}
There have been recent attempts at reviving [[Sanskrit]] in India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/10000-plus-growth-in-sanskrit-speakers/cid/1351306 |title=10000-plus growth in Sanskrit speakers |website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pratidintime.com/latest-census-figure-reveals-increase-in-sanskrit-speakers-in-india/ |title=Latest census figure reveals increase in Sanskrit speakers in India |date=July 15, 2018}}</ref><ref name="BBC-2014-Mattur">{{Cite news |date=22 December 2014 |title=Indian village where people speak in Sanskrit|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30446917|access-date=30 September 2020}}</ref> However, despite these attempts, there are no first language speakers of Sanskrit in India.<ref name=sreevastan-thehindu-sanskrit/><ref name="Ruppel2017">{{cite book|last=Ruppel|first=A. M.|title=The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXQ3DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA2|year=2017|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-08828-3|page=2|quote=The study of any ancient (or dead) language is faced with one main challenge: ancient languages have no native speakers who could provide us with examples of simple everyday speech}}</ref><ref name="KachruKachru2008-1">{{cite book|last=Annamalai|first=E. |editor=Braj B. Kachru |editor2=Yamuna Kachru |editor3=S. N. Sridhar |title=Language in South Asia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2n4sFGDEMYC&pg=PA223 |year=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-46550-2 |pages=223– |chapter=Contexts of multilingualism |quote=Some of the migrated languages ... such as Sanskrit and English, remained primarily as a second language, even though their native speakers were lost. Some native languages like the language of the Indus valley were lost with their speakers, while some linguistic communities shifted their language to one or other of the migrants’ languages.}}</ref> In each of India's recent decennial censuses, several thousand citizens{{efn|6,106 Indians in 1981, 49,736 in 1991, 14,135 in 2001, and 24,821 in 2011, have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue.<ref name=sreevastan-thehindu-sanskrit/>}} have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue. However, these reports are thought to signify a wish to be aligned with the prestige of the language, rather than being genuinely indicative of the presence of thousands of L1 Sanskrit speakers in India. There has also been a rise of so-called "Sanskrit villages",<ref name="BBC-2014-Mattur"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cteindia.org/five-indian-villages-where-sanskrit-is-spoken/|title=Five Indian villages where sanskrit is spoken|date=4 August 2024 }}</ref> but experts have cast doubt on the extent to which Sanskrit is really spoken in such villages.<ref name=sreevastan-thehindu-sanskrit>{{cite news |title=Where are the Sanskrit speakers? |last=Sreevastan |first=Ajai |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/where-are-the-sanskrit-speakers/article6299433.ece |date=10 August 2014 |location =Chennai |access-date=11 October 2020 |quote=Sanskrit is also the only scheduled language that shows wide fluctuations — rising from 6,106&nbsp;speakers in 1981 to 49,736 in 1991 and then falling dramatically to 14,135&nbsp;speakers in 2001. “This fluctuation is not necessarily an error of the Census method. People often switch language loyalties depending on the immediate political climate,” says Prof. Ganesh Devy of the People's Linguistic Survey of India. ... Because some people “fictitiously” indicate Sanskrit as their mother tongue owing to its high prestige and Constitutional mandate, the Census captures the persisting memory of an ancient language that is no longer anyone's real mother tongue, says B. Mallikarjun of the Center for Classical Language. Hence, the numbers fluctuate in each Census. ... “Sanskrit has influence without presence,” says Devy. “We all feel in some corner of the country, Sanskrit is spoken.” But even in Karnataka's Mattur, which is often referred to as India's Sanskrit village, hardly a handful indicated Sanskrit as their mother tongue.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://detechter.com/seven-sanskrit-speaking-villages-in-india/ |title=Seven Indian villages where people speak in Sanskrit |date=September 24, 2017 |website=Detechter}}</ref>

==== Soyot ====
{{Main|Soyot language}}

The [[Soyot-Tsaatan language|Soyot language]] of the small-numbered [[Soyot]]s in [[Buryatia]], [[Russia]], one of the [[Siberian Turkic languages]], has been reconstructed and a Soyot-[[Buryat language|Buryat]]-[[Russian language|Russian]] dictionary was published in 2002. The language is currently taught in some elementary schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lingsib.iea.ras.ru/en/languages/soiot.shtml |last=Rassadin |first=V.I. |title=The Soyot Language |work=Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=2021-07-18}}</ref>

==== Ainu ====
{{Main|Ainu language}}
The [[Ainu language]] of the indigenous [[Ainu people]] of northern Japan is currently moribund, but efforts are underway to revive it. A 2006 survey of the [[Hokkaido]] Ainu indicated that only 4.6% of Ainu surveyed were able to converse in or "speak a little" Ainu.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TpdTRuAm8R4C&pg=PA219 |title=Cultural Diversity, Heritage and Human Rights: Intersections in Theory and Practice |first1=Michele |last1=Langfield |first2=William |last2=Logan |first3=Mairead Nic |last3=Craith |date=November 27, 2009 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9780203863015 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> As of 2001, Ainu was not taught in any elementary or secondary schools in Japan, but was offered at numerous language centres and universities in Hokkaido, as well as at Tokyo's [[Chiba University]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oScUXmAkRXIC&pg=PA340 |title=Can Threatened Languages be Saved?: Reversing Language Shift, Revisited : a 21st Century Perspective |first=Joshua A. |last=Fishman |date=January 1, 2001 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=9781853594922 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

==== Manchu ====
{{Main|Manchu language}}
In China, the [[Manchu language]] is one of the most endangered languages, with speakers only in three small areas of Manchuria remaining.<ref>Tsunoda, Tasaku. Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 2005. 28. Print.</ref> Some enthusiasts are trying to revive the language of [[Manchu people|their ancestors]] using available dictionaries and textbooks, and even occasional visits to [[Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County]] in [[Xinjiang]], where the related [[Xibe language]] is still spoken natively.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125452110732160485
|date=2009-10-05 |title=In China, the Forgotten Manchu Seek to Rekindle Their Glory
|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |first=Ian |last=Johnson |access-date=2009-10-05}}</ref>

==== Spanish ====
{{Main|Spanish language in the Philippines|Philippine Spanish}}
In the Philippines, a local variety of Spanish that was primarily based on [[Mexican Spanish]] was the ''lingua franca'' of the country since Spanish colonization in 1565 and was an official language alongside [[Filipino language|Filipino]] (standardized [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]]) and [[Philippine English|English]] until 1987, following the ratification of a new constitution, where it was re-designated as a voluntary language.

As a result of its loss as an official language and years of marginalization at the official level during and after American colonization, the use of Spanish amongst the overall populace decreased dramatically and became moribund, with the remaining native speakers left being mostly elderly people.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lgpolar.com/page/read/119|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604061553/http://lgpolar.com/page/read/119 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-06-04 |title=La Guirnalda Polar - Artículo por Guillermo Gómez Rivera [Educadores y sabios adredemente olvidados] |website=www.webcitation.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://elpais.com/cultura/2016/04/12/actualidad/1460464651_728256.html |title=Los últimos del español |trans-title=The last of the Spanish |first=José Manuel Abad |last=Liñán |newspaper=El País |date=May 9, 2016 |via=elpais.com |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/june98/05_37_013.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991009202835/http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/june98/05_37_013.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 9, 1999 |title=PHILIPPINES: Torn Between Two Colonisers -- Spain and America |date=October 9, 1999}}</ref>

The language has seen a gradual revival, however, due to official promotion under the administration of former President [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.congress.gov.ph/download/ra_12/RA09187.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604061454/http://www.congress.gov.ph/download/ra_12/RA09187.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-06-04 |title=Republic Act No.9187 |website=congress.gov.ph}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ulap.gov.ph/reso2006-28.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902192237/http://www.ulap.gov.ph/reso2006-28.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 2, 2007 |title=Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines Website |date=September 2, 2007}}</ref> Schools were encouraged to offer Spanish, French, and Japanese as foreign language electives.<ref>{{Cite web |title=June 4, 2009 DO 55, s. 2009 – Guidelines On Offering Foreign Languages Like Spanish, French, And Nihongo (Japanese) As Elective Subjects in the Third and Fourth Year Levels of High School {{!}} Department of Education |url=https://www.deped.gov.ph/2009/06/04/do-55-s-2009-guidelines-on-offering-foreign-languages-like-spanish-french-and-nihongo-japanese-as-elective-subjects-in-the-third-and-fourth-year-levels-of-high-school/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-05-12 |language=en-US}}</ref> Results were immediate as the job demand for Spanish speakers had increased since 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20081119-173154/Demand-for-Spanish-speakers-growing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905182822/http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20081119-173154/Demand-for-Spanish-speakers-growing |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-05 |title=Demand for Spanish speakers growing - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos |website=www.webcitation.org}}</ref> As of 2010, the [[Instituto Cervantes]] in Manila reported the number of Spanish-speakers in the country with native or non-native knowledge at approximately 3 million, the figure albeit including those who speak the Spanish-based creole [[Chavacano Language|Chavacano]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id=505 |title=El Castellano: Noticias - el retorno triunfal del español a las Filipinas |access-date=2018-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629084919/http://www.elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id=505 |archive-date=2010-06-29 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Complementing government efforts is a notable surge of exposure through the [[Mass media in the Philippines|mainstream media]] and, more recently, [[Music streaming|music-streaming]] services.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20071206-105314/Spanish_on_comeback_trail_in_Philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619103528/http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20071206-105314/Spanish_on_comeback_trail_in_Philippines |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-06-19 |title=Spanish on comeback trail in Philippines - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos |website=www.webcitation.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/spanish+language+culture/ari27-2009 |title=Inicio}}</ref>

==== Western Armenian ====
{{Main|Armenian language}}

The [[Western Armenian]] language, has been classified as a [[endangered language|definitely endangered language]] in the ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' (2010),<ref>{{Cite book| edition = 3rd ed. entirely revised, enlarged and updated.| isbn = 978-92-3-104095-5| publisher =  UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage Section| last1 = Moseley| first1 = Christopher| last2 = Nicolas| first2 = Alexandre| title = Atlas of the world's languages in danger / editor-in-Chief, Christopher Moseley ; cartographer, Alexandre Nicolas.| location = Paris| series = Memory of peoples series| date = 2010 |url= https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026}}</ref> as most speakers of the dialect remain in diasporic communities away from their homeland in Anatolia, following the [[Armenian genocide]]. In spite of this, there have been various efforts<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ohanesian |first=Liz |date=2023-04-20 |title=Western Armenian Is An Endangered Language. A New Generation In LA Is Learning It |url=https://laist.com/news/western-armenian-is-an-endangered-language-a-new-generation-in-la-is-learning-it |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=LAist |language=en}}</ref> to revitalize the language, especially within the [[Armenians in Los Angeles|Los Angeles community]] where the majority of Western Armenians reside.

Within her dissertation, Shushan Karapetian discusses at length the decline of the Armenian language in the United States, and new means for keeping and reviving Western Armenian, such as the creation of the Saroyan Committee or the Armenian Language Preservation Committee, launched in 2013.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Karapetian |first=Shushan |date=2014 |title="How Do I Teach My Kids My Broken Armenian?": A Study of Eastern Armenian Heritage Language Speakers in Los Angeles |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt7jq085nr/qt7jq085nr.pdf?t=nk2emk |journal=Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California}}</ref> Other attempts at language revitalization can be seen within the [[University of California, Irvine|University of California in Irvine]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-03 |title=Keeping a language alive |url=https://news.uci.edu/2018/12/03/keeping-a-language-alive/ |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=UCI News |language=en-US}}</ref> Armenian is also one of the languages Los Angeles County is required to provide voting information in.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Multilingual Services Program |url=https://www.lavote.gov/home/voting-elections/voter-education/multilingual-services-program/multilingual-services-program |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=www.lavote.gov}}</ref> The DPSS (California Department of Social Services) also identifies Armenian as one of its "threshold languages".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Language Access Services |url=https://my.dpss.lacounty.gov/public/en/home/epolicy/office-operations/civil-rights/lang-services.html |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=my.dpss.lacounty.gov}}</ref>

==== Other Asian ====
In Thailand, there exists a [[Chong language]] revitalization project, headed by Suwilai Premsrirat.<ref name=Suwilai>{{cite web |last1=Premsrirat |first1=Suwilai |title=Chong Language Revitalization Project |url=http://www.mekongwatch.org/PDF/Suwilai_Part1.pdf |website=Mekong Watch |publisher=Mahidol University |access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
In [[Europe]], in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the use of both local and learned [[languages of Europe|languages]] declined as the central governments of the different states imposed their vernacular language as the standard throughout education and official use (this was the case in the [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Italy]] and [[Greece]], and to some extent, in [[Germany]] and [[Austria-Hungary]]).{{citation needed|date=March 2013}}

In the last few decades,{{When|date=April 2025|reason=It is unclear when this process started}} local [[nationalism]] and [[human rights]] movements have made a more [[multiculturalism|multicultural]] policy standard in European states; sharp condemnation of the earlier practices of suppressing regional languages was expressed in the use of such terms as "[[language death|linguicide]]".

==== Basque ====
In [[Francoist Spain]], [[Basque language]] use was discouraged by the government's [[language policies of Francoist Spain|repressive policies]]. In the Basque Country, "Francoist repression was not only political, but also linguistic and cultural."<ref>Santiago de Pablo, "Lengua e identidad nacional en el País Vasco: Del franquismo a la democracia". In 'Le discours sur les langues d'Espagne : Edition français-espagnol', Christian Lagarde ed, Perpignan: Presses Universitaires de Perpignan, 2009, pp. 53-64, p. 53</ref> [[Francisco Franco|Franco's]] regime suppressed Basque from official discourse, education, and publishing,<ref>See Jose Carlos Herreras, Actas XVI Congreso AIH. José Carlos HERRERAS. Políticas de normalización lingüística en la España democrática", 2007, p. 2. Reproduced in https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/aih/pdf/16/aih_16_2_021.pdf</ref> making it illegal to register newborn babies under Basque names,<ref>See "Articulo 1, Orden Ministerial Sobre el Registro Civil, 18 de mayo de 1938". Reproduced in Jordi Busquets, "Casi Tres Siglos de Imposicion", 'El Pais' online, 29 April 2001. https://elpais.com/diario/2001/04/29/cultura/988495201_850215.html.</ref> and even requiring tombstone engravings in Basque to be removed.<ref>See Communicacion No. 2486, Negociado 4, Excelentisimo Gobierno Civil de Vizcaya, 27 Octubre de 1949". A letter of acknowledgement from the archive of the Alcaldia de Guernica y Lumo, 2 November 2941, is reproduced in https://radiorecuperandomemoria.com/2017/05/31/la-prohibicion-del-euskera-en-el-franquismo/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420121914/https://radiorecuperandomemoria.com/2017/05/31/la-prohibicion-del-euskera-en-el-franquismo/ |date=20 April 2019 }}</ref> In some provinces the public use of Basque was suppressed, with people fined for speaking it.<ref>See for example the letter from the Military Commander of Las Arenas, Biscay, dated 21 October 1938, acknowledging a fine for the public use of a Basque first name on the streets of Las Arenas, reproduced in https://radiorecuperandomemoria.com/2017/05/31/la-prohibicion-del-euskera-en-el-franquismo/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420121914/https://radiorecuperandomemoria.com/2017/05/31/la-prohibicion-del-euskera-en-el-franquismo/ |date=20 April 2019 }}</ref> Public use of Basque was frowned upon by supporters of the regime, often regarded as a sign of anti-Francoism or [[Basque separatism|separatism]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/francisco-franco |title=Francisco Franco |author=<!--not stated--> |website=HISTORY |publisher=A&E Television Networks |date=2009-11-09}}</ref> in the late 1960s.

Since 1968, Basque has been immersed in a revitalisation process, facing formidable obstacles. However, significant progress has been made in numerous areas. Six main factors have been identified to explain its relative success: 
# implementation and acceptance of [[Unified Basque|Unified, or Standard Basque (Euskara Batua)]], which was developed by the [[Euskaltzaindia]]
# integration of Basque in the education system
# creation of media in Basque (radio, newspapers, and television)
# the established new legal framework
# collaboration between public institutions and people's organisations, and 
# campaigns for Basque language literacy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Agirrezabal |first1=Lore |title=The basque experience : some keys to language and identity recovery |date=2010 |publisher=Garabide Elkartea |location=Eskoriatza, Gipuzkoa |isbn=978-84-613-6835-8 |url=https://www.ehu.eus/documents/3120344/3356416/The+Basque+Experience.pdf/85ea53f1-45ff-49c0-b92f-365c7f850cb5?t=1420475539000 |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref>

While those six factors influenced the revitalisation process, the extensive development and use of [[language technologies]] is also considered a significant additional factor.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alegria |first1=Iñaki |last2=Sarasola |first2=Kepa |title=Language technology for language communities: An overview based on our experience. In: FEL XXI : communities in control : learning tools and strategies for multilingual endangered language communities : proceedings of the 21st FEL Conference, 19-21 October 2017 |date=2017 |location=Hungerford, England |isbn=978-0-9560210-9-0 |url=http://ixa.si.ehu.eus/node/11357 |publisher=Foundation for Endangered Languages }}</ref> Overall, in the 1960s and later, the trend reversed and education and publishing in Basque began to flourish.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Robert |title=The Basques: the Franco years and beyond |year=1979 |publisher=University of Nevada Press |location=Reno |isbn=0-874-17057-5 |page=149 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/basquesfrancoyea00clar_0}}</ref> A sociolinguistic survey shows that there has been a steady increase in Basque speakers since the 1990s, and the percentage of young speakers exceeds that of the old.<ref name=basquetribune>{{cite web | url=https://basquetribune.com/the-basque-language-gains-speakers-but-no-surge-in-usage/ | title=The Basque Language Gains Speakers, but No Surge in Usage – Basque Tribune }}</ref>

==== Irish ====
{{Main|Status of the Irish language}}
One of the best known European attempts at language revitalization concerns the [[Irish language]]. While English is dominant through most of Ireland, Irish, a [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]], is still spoken in certain areas called ''[[Gaeltacht]]aí'',<ref name=autogenerated2>Carnie, Andrew. "Modern Irish: Modern Irish: A Case Study in Language Revival Failure." (1995).</ref> but there it is in serious decline.<ref>This decline was noted in 2002. {{cite web|url=http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/20YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage/Publications/Report%20of%20Coimisi%C3%BAn%20na%20Gaeltachta.pdf |title=Report of the Gaeltacht Commission |year=2002 |access-date=20 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017090003/http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/20YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage/Publications/Report%20of%20Coimisi%C3%BAn%20na%20Gaeltachta.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref> The challenges faced by the language over the last few centuries have included exclusion from important domains, social denigration, the death or emigration of many Irish speakers during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Irish famine]] of the 1840s, and continued emigration since. Efforts to revitalise Irish were being made, however, from the mid-1800s, and were associated with a desire for Irish political independence.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Contemporary Irish language revitalization has chiefly involved teaching Irish as a compulsory language in mainstream English-speaking schools. But the failure to teach it in an effective and engaging way means (as linguist Andrew Carnie notes) that students do not acquire the fluency needed for the lasting viability of the language, and this leads to boredom and resentment. Carnie also noted a lack of media in Irish (2006),<ref name=autogenerated2 /> though this is no longer the case.

The decline of the Gaeltachtaí and the failure of state-directed revitalisation have been countered by an urban revival movement. This is largely based on an independent community-based school system, known generally as [[Gaelscoil]]eanna. These schools teach entirely through Irish and their number is growing, with over thirty such schools in Dublin alone.<ref>Gaelscoileanna Teo – Statistics: http://www.gaelscoileanna.ie/en/about/statistics/</ref> They are an important element in the creation of a network of urban Irish speakers (known as Gaeilgeoirí), who tend to be young, well-educated and middle-class. It is now likely that this group has acquired critical mass, a fact reflected in the expansion of Irish-language media.<ref name="gaelport">http://www.gaelport.com/default.aspx?treeid=37&NewsItemID=3726: ‘Schism fears for Gaeilgeoirí,’ Brian Ó Broin, 16 January 2010, ''The Irish Times''.</ref> Irish language television has enjoyed particular success.<ref>See the website of TG4: http://www.tg4.ie/.</ref> It has been argued that they tend to be better educated than monolingual English speakers and enjoy higher social status.<ref>‘Language and Occupational Status: Linguistic Elitism in the Irish Labour Market,’ The Economic and Social Review, Vol. 40, No. 4, Winter, 2009, pp. 435–460: https://ideas.repec.org/a/eso/journl/v40y2009i4p435-460.html</ref> They represent the transition of Irish to a modern urban world, with an accompanying rise in prestige.

==== Scottish Gaelic ====
There are also current attempts to revive the related language of [[Scottish Gaelic]], which was suppressed following the formation of the United Kingdom, and entered further decline due to the [[Highland clearances]]. Currently{{when|date=November 2024}}, Gaelic is only spoken widely in the [[Western Isles]] and some relatively small areas of the [[Highlands and Islands]]. The decline in fluent Gaelic speakers has slowed; however, the population center has shifted to L2 speakers in urban areas, especially Glasgow.<ref>{{cite news |title=Census shows decline in Gaelic speakers 'slowed' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-24281487 |access-date=23 June 2014 |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=26 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Alison |last1=Campsie |title=Gaelic speakers map: Where in Scotland is Gaelic thriving? |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/gaelic-speakers-map-where-in-scotland-is-gaelic-thriving-1-3903467 |access-date=6 April 2017 |work=[[The Scotsman]] |language=en}}</ref>

==== Manx ====
{{Main|Manx language revival}}
Another Celtic language, [[Manx language|Manx]], lost its [[Ned Maddrell|last native speaker]] in 1974 and was declared extinct by [[UNESCO]] in 2009, but never completely fell from use.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/isle_of_man/7901763.stm|title=UN declares Manx Gaelic 'extinct'|date=2009-02-20|access-date=2018-01-05|language=en-GB}}</ref> The language is now taught in primary and secondary schools, including as a teaching medium at the [[Bunscoill Ghaelgagh]], used in some public events and spoken as a second language by approximately 1,800 people.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/apr/02/how-manx-language-came-back-from-dead-isle-of-man |title=How the Manx language came back from the dead |last=Whitehead |first=Sarah |date=2015-04-02 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2018-01-05 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Revitalization efforts include radio shows in Manx Gaelic and social media and online resources. The Manx government has also been involved in the effort by creating organizations such as the Manx Heritage Foundation ([[Culture Vannin]]) and the position of Manx Language Officer.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wilson|first1=Gary N. |last2=Johnson |first2=Henry |last3=Sallabank |first3=Julia |date=2015-07-03 |title='I'm not dead yet': a comparative study of indigenous language revitalization in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey |journal=[[Current Issues in Language Planning]] |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=259–278 |doi=10.1080/14664208.2014.972535 |s2cid=145626745 |issn=1466-4208 |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/21243/1/I%27m%20Not%20Dead%20Yet%20%28Revised%29%2025-1-14_untracked.pdf}}</ref> The government has released an official Manx Language Strategy for 2017–2021.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theworldweekly.com/reader/view/magazine/2018-01-04/lifelines-for-indigenous-languages/10437 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107232933/https://www.theworldweekly.com/reader/view/magazine/2018-01-04/lifelines-for-indigenous-languages/10437/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=7 January 2018 |title=Lifelines for indigenous languages {{!}} The World Weekly |website=www.theworldweekly.com |access-date=2018-01-06}}</ref>

==== Cornish ====
There have been a number of attempts to revive the [[Cornish language]], both privately and some under the [[Cornish Language Partnership]]. Some of the activities have included translation of the Christian scriptures,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.evertype.com/books/testament-noweth-ucr.html |title=The New Testament in Cornish |website=www.evertype.com}}</ref> a guild of bards,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gorsethkernow.org.uk/english/welcome.htm |title=Guild of Bards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706051224/http://www.gorsethkernow.org.uk/english/welcome.htm |archive-date=2009-07-06 |website=[[Gorseth Kernow]]}}</ref> and the promotion of [[Cornish literature]] in modern Cornish, including novels and poetry.

==== Breton ====
{{Main|Breton language#Revival efforts}}

==== Caló ====
The [[Gitanos|Romani]] arriving in the Iberian Peninsula developed an Iberian [[Romani language|Romani]] dialect.
As time passed, Romani ceased to be a full language and became [[Caló language|Caló]], a [[Cant (language)|cant]] mixing Iberian Romance grammar and Romani vocabulary.
With sedentarization and obligatory instruction in the official languages, Caló is used less and less.
As Iberian Romani proper is extinct and as Caló is endangered, some people are trying to revitalise the language. The Spanish politician [[Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia]] promotes [[Romanò-Kalò]], a variant of [[Romani language standardization|International Romani]], enriched by Caló words.<ref name="CursoRamírez">[https://unionromani.org/notis/2006/noti2006-12-29a.htm ''"Unión Romaní imparte el primer curso de romanò-kalò"''] {{in lang|es}}, Union Romani, 29 December 2006</ref> His goal is to reunify the Caló and Romani roots.

==== Livonian ====
{{Main|Livonian language revival}}
The Livonian language, a Finnic language, once spoken on about a third of modern-day Latvian territory,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6ig3YQ5Z64|title=Lecture by Valts Ernštreits "Chasing the heritage of Livonians - Latvia's indigenous people"|date=6 October 2020 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> died in the 21st century with the death of the last native speaker [[Grizelda Kristiņa]] on 2 June 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/death-of-a-language-last-ever-speaker-of-livonian-passes-away-aged-103-8k0rlplv8xj |title=Death of a language: last ever speaker of Livonian passes away aged 103 |first=David |last=Charter |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref> Today there are about 210 people mainly living in Latvia who identify themselves as Livonian and speak the language on the A1-A2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and between 20 and 40 people who speak the language on level B1 and up.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.livones.net/valoda/?raksts=8701 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202235047/http://www.livones.net/valoda/?raksts=8701 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 2, 2014 |title=livones.net |date=February 2, 2014}}</ref> Today all speakers learn Livonian as a second language. There are different programs educating Latvians on the cultural and linguistic heritage of Livonians and the fact that most Latvians have common Livonian descent.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90cWpvhdfdY |title=Lībiešu tradicionālā kultūra Latvijas kultūras kanonā. Stāsta Valts Ernštreits. |date=23 October 2019 |trans-title=Livonian traditional culture in the cultural canon of Latvia. Narrated by Walt Ernstreit. |language=lv |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

Programs worth mentioning include:

* Livones.net<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.livones.net/en |title=Livones.net |website=www.livones.net}}</ref> with extensive information about language, history and culture
* The Livonian Institute of the University of Latvia<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.livones.net/lili/en |title=Livones.net |website=www.livones.net|date=20 November 2022 }}</ref> doing research on the Livonian language, other Finnic languages in Latvia and providing an extensive Livonian-Latvian-Estonian dictionary with declinations/conjugations<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.livones.net/lili/en/vardnica/ |title=Livones.net |website=www.livones.net}}</ref>
* Virtual Livonia<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://virtuallivonia.info/ |title=Virtual Livonia ∙ Līvõmō Internets ∙ Līvzeme Internetā |website=Virtual Livonia}}</ref> providing information on the Livonian language and especially its grammar
* Mierlinkizt:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.livones.net/lv/norises/2020/libiesu-vasaras-skola-mierlinkizt |title=Livones.net - Lībiešu vasaras skola "Mierlinkizt" |trans-title=Livonian summer school "Mierlinkizt" |language=lv |website=www.livones.net}}</ref> An annual summer camp for children to teach children about the Livonian language, culture etc.
* Līvõd Īt (Livonian Union)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.livones.net/en/cilveki/organizacijas/livod-it-livonian-union |title=Livones.net - Līvõd Īt (Livonian Union) |website=www.livones.net}}</ref>

The Livonian linguistic and cultural heritage is included in the Latvian cultural canon<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://kulturaskanons.lv/archive/libiesu-kultura/ |title=Lībiešu tradicionālā kultūra &#124; Latvijas kultūras kanons |trans-title=Livonian traditional culture &#124; Latvian cultural canon |language=lv}}</ref> and the protection, revitalization and development of Livonian as an indigenous language is guaranteed by Latvian law<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=14740 |title=Valsts valodas likums |trans-title=State Language Law |language=lv |website=LIKUMI.LV}}</ref>

==== Old Prussian ====

A few linguists and philologists are involved in reviving a reconstructed form of the extinct [[Old Prussian language]] from Luther's catechisms, the Elbing Vocabulary, place names, and Prussian loanwords in the [[Low Prussian dialect]] of [[Low German]]. Several dozen people use the language in [[Lithuania]], [[Kaliningrad]], and [[Poland]], including a few children who are natively bilingual.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Szatkowski |first1=Piotr |title=Language practices in a family of Prussian language revivalists: Conclusions based on short-term participants observation |journal=Pismo Humanistów |date=2021 |volume=18 |issue=2626 |doi=10.11649/a.0000 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024}}</ref>

The Prusaspirā Society has published its translation of [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]]'s ''[[The Little Prince]]''. The book was translated by Piotr Szatkowski (Pīteris Šātkis) and released in 2015.<ref>[http://culture.pl/en/article/little-prince-published-in-prussian "Little Prince Published in Prussian"], Culture.PL, 2015/02/17</ref> The other efforts of Baltic Prussian societies include the development of online dictionaries, learning apps and games. There also have been several attempts to produce music with lyrics written in the revived Baltic Prussian language, most notably in the Kaliningrad Oblast by [[Romowe Rikoito]],<ref>{{Cite web |title= ROMOWE RIKOITO - Undēina |publisher= Dangus |url=http://www.dangus.net/releases/albumai/043_RomoweRikoito.htm |access-date= 29 August 2014}}</ref> Kellan and Āustras Laīwan, but also in Lithuania by [[Kūlgrinda (band)|Kūlgrinda]] in their 2005 album ''Prūsų Giesmės'' (Prussian Hymns),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Senoji prūsų kalba atgimsta naujausioje grupės KŪLGRINDA plokštelėje |trans-title=The old Prussian language is revived in the latest album of the group KŪLGRINDA |language=lt |publisher=Dangus |url=http://www.dangus.net/news/nauja418.htm |access-date= 29 August 2014}}</ref> and in [[Latvia]] by Rasa Ensemble in 1988<ref>{{cite book |title=The Power of Song: Nonviolent National Culture in the Baltic Singing Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_TfOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |last=Smidchens |first=Guntis |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-99310-2 |year=2014 |page=12 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> and [[Valdis Muktupāvels]] in his 2005 [[oratorio]] "Pārcēlātājs Pontifex" featuring several parts sung in Prussian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oratorio |url=http://donelaitis.vdu.lt/prussian/oratorio.htm |access-date=29 August 2014}}</ref>

Important in this revival was [[Vytautas Mažiulis]], who died on 11 April 2009, and his pupil [[Letas Palmaitis]], leader of the experiment and author of the website ''Prussian Reconstructions''.<ref>[http://donelaitis.vdu.lt/prussian/index.htm Prussian Reconstructions]</ref> Two late contributors were Prāncis Arellis ([[:lt:Pranciškus Erelis|Pranciškus Erelis]]), Lithuania, and Dailūns Russinis ([[Dailonis Rusiņš]]), Latvia. After them, [[Twankstas Glabbis]] from [[Kaliningrad oblast]] and [[Nērtiks Pamedīns]] from East-Prussia, now Polish [[Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship|Warmia-Masuria]] actively joined.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

==== Yola ====
The [[Yola language]] revival movement has cultivated in Wexford in recent years, and the “Gabble Ing Yola” resource center for Yola materials claims there are around 140 speakers of the Yola language today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How many speakers of Yola are there now? |url=https://sites.google.com/view/gabble-ing-yola/faq?authuser=0#h.l4sh1vo1baxr |access-date=2022-01-19 |website=google |language=en}}</ref>

=== Oceania ===
==== Australia ====
The European colonization of Australia, and the consequent damage sustained by [[Aboriginal Australian|Aboriginal]] communities, had a catastrophic effect on indigenous languages, especially in the southeast and south of the country, leaving some with no living traditional native speakers. A number of Aboriginal communities in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and elsewhere are now trying to revive some of the [[Aboriginal Australian languages]]. The work is typically directed by a group of [[Aboriginal elder]]s and other knowledgeable people, with community language workers doing most of the research and teaching. They analyze the data, develop spelling systems and vocabulary and prepare resources. Decisions are made in collaboration. Some communities employ linguists, and there are also linguists who have worked independently,<ref>Dr Christina Eira, community linguist with the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages (VACL), [http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/linguafranca/aboriginal-revival-languages/3066470 Aboriginal Revival Languages], Lingua Franca, 27 June 2009, Radio National: . Retrieved 21 June 2014.</ref> such as [[Luise Hercus]] and [[Peter K. Austin]].
* In the state of [[Queensland]], an effort is being made to teach some Indigenous languages in schools and to develop workshops for adults. More than 150 languages were once spoken within the state, but today fewer than 20 are spoken as a first language, and less than two per cent of schools teach any Indigenous language. The [[Gunggari language]] is one language which is being revived, with only three native speakers left.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hosier |first=Phoebe |title=An outback Queensland school leads the way to keep endangered Indigenous language alive |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |publisher= [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=26 May 2021 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-27/qld-outback-school-revives-gunggari-indigenous-language/100162318 |access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Moodie |first=Anthea |title=Indigenous language workshops connecting Gunggari people to culture |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=27 November 2021 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-28/gunggari-language-workshop-reconnection-to-culture/100605548 |access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref>
* In the [[Northern Territory]], the Pertame Project is an example in [[Central Australia]]. [[Pertame]], from the country south of [[Alice Springs]], along the [[Finke River]], is a dialect in the [[Arrernte language|Arrernte group of languages]]. With only 20 fluent speakers left by 2018,<ref>{{cite news |title=To save a dying language |publisher=Alice Springs News Online |date=23 May 2019 |url=http://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/2018/05/23/to-save-a-dying-language/ |access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref> the Pertame Project is seeking to retain and revive the language, headed by Pertame elder Christobel Swan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pertame Project |website=Call for Australian languages and linguistics |url=https://call.batchelor.edu.au/project/pertame-southern-arrernte/ |access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref>
* In the far north of [[South Australia]], the [[Diyari language]] has an active programme under way, with materials available for teaching in schools and the wider community.<ref name=Dieri>{{cite web |url=https://dieriyawarra.wordpress.com/dieri-language/ |title=Ngayana Diyari Yawarra Yathayilha: Supporting the Dieri language |date=28 February 2013 |access-date=20 May 2019}}</ref> Also in South Australia, there is a unit at the [[University of Adelaide]] which teaches and promotes the use of the [[Kaurna language]], headed by [[Rob Amery]], who has produced many books and course materials.<ref>{{cite web | title=Associate Professor Rob Amery | website=[[University of Adelaide]] Staff Directory  | url=https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/robert.amery | access-date=14 December 2023}}</ref> 
* The [[Victoria, Australia|Victorian]] Department of Education and Training reported 1,867 student enrollments in 14 schools offering an Aboriginal Languages Program in the state of [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 19, 2019 |title=Languages Provision in Victorian Government Schools, 2018 |url=https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/languages/eduState-languages-provision-report-2018.pdf |access-date=April 23, 2021 |publisher=State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training)}}</ref>

==== New Zealand ====
{{Further|Māori language revival}}
One of the best cases of relative success in language revitalization is the case of [[Māori language|Maori]], also known as {{lang|mi|te reo Māori}}. It is the ancestral tongue of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand and a vehicle for prose narrative, sung poetry, and genealogical recital.<ref name=senft>{{cite book |last=Senft |first=Gunter |title=Endangered Austronesian and Australian Aboriginal Languages |year=2010 |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |location=Canberra |isbn=9780858836235 |pages=185–192}}</ref> The history of the Maori people is taught in Maori in sacred learning houses through oral transmission. Even after Maori became a written language, the oral tradition was preserved.<ref name=senft />

Once European colonization began, many laws were enacted in order to promote the use of English over Maori among indigenous people.<ref name=senft /> The Education Ordinance Act of 1847 mandated school instruction in English and established boarding schools to speed up assimilation of Maori youths into European culture. The Native School Act of 1858 forbade Māori from being spoken in schools.

During the 1970s, a group of young Maori people, the [[Ngā Tamatoa]], successfully campaigned for Maori to be taught in schools.<ref name=senft /> Also, Kōhanga Reo, Māori language preschools, called language nests, were established.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Leanne |last1=Hinton |first2=Kenneth |last2=Hale |title=The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice |year=2001 |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |location=San Diego |isbn=0-12-349353-6 |page=119}}</ref> The emphasis was on teaching children the language at a young age, a very effective strategy for language learning. The Maori Language Commission was formed in 1987, leading to a number of national reforms aimed at revitalizing Maori.<ref name=senft /> They include media programmes broadcast in Maori, undergraduate college programmes taught in Maori, and an annual Maori language week. Each ''[[iwi]]'' (tribe) created a language planning programme catering to its specific circumstances. These efforts have resulted in a steady increase in children being taught in Maori in schools since 1996.<ref name=senft />

==== Hawaiian ====
{{Main|Hawaiian language}}
On six of the seven inhabited islands of [[Hawaii]], Hawaiian was displaced by English and is no longer used as the daily language of communication. The one exception is [[Niihau|Niʻihau]], where [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] has never been displaced, has never been endangered, and is still used almost exclusively. Efforts to revive the language have increased in recent decades. Hawaiian [[language immersion]] schools are now open to children whose families want to retain (or introduce) Hawaiian language into the next generation. The local [[National Public Radio]] station features a short segment titled "Hawaiian word of the day". Additionally, the Sunday editions of the ''[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]]'' and its successor, the ''[[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]]'', feature a brief article called ''Kauakūkalahale'', written entirely in Hawaiian by a student.<ref>Wilson, W. H.; Kamanä, K. (2001). Mai loko mai o ka 'i'ini: Proceeding from a dream: The Aha Pûnana Leo connection in Hawaiian language revitalization. In L. Hinton & K. Hale (eds.). ''The green book of language revitalization in practice''. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. pp. 147–177.</ref>

== Current revitalization efforts ==
Language revitalization efforts are ongoing around the world. Revitalization teams are utilizing modern technologies to increase contact with indigenous languages and to record [[traditional knowledge]].

=== Mexico ===
In Mexico, the [[Mixtec]] people's [[Mixtec languages|language]] heavily revolves around the interaction between climate, nature, and what it means for their livelihood.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} [[UNESCO]]'s LINKS (Local and Indigenous Knowledge) program recently underwent a project to create a glossary of Mixtec terms and phrases related to climate. UNESCO believes that the traditional knowledge of the Mixtec people via their deep connection with weather phenomena can provide insight on ways to [[climate change mitigation|address climate change]]. Their intention in creating the glossary is to "facilitate discussions between experts and the holders of traditional knowledge".<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Morales|first=Aracely Torres|date=January–March 2019|title=Ndejama cuia chi ini zaza: Mexico's Mixtec people know how to speak the language of nature|url=https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/cou_1_19_en.pdf|journal=The UNESCO Courier|pages=9|doi=10.18356/885fb3d6-en }}</ref>

=== Canada ===
In Canada, the [[Wapikoni Mobile]] project travels to indigenous communities and provides lessons in film making. Program leaders travel across Canada with mobile audiovisual production units, and aim to provide indigenous youth with a way to connect with their culture through a film topic of their choosing. The Wapikona project submits its films to events around the world as an attempt to spread knowledge of indigenous culture and language.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gomez |first=Saturnin |date=January–March 2019 |title=Manon Barbeau: A Camera in Her Heart |url=https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/cou_1_19_en.pdf |journal=The UNESCO Courier |pages=10–12 |via=UNESCO.org |publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref>

=== Chile ===
Of the youth in Rapa Nui ([[Easter Island]]), ten percent learn their mother language. The rest of the community has adopted Spanish in order to communicate with the outside world and support its tourism industry. Through a collaboration between UNESCO and the Chilean [[CONADI|Corporación Nacional de Desarrollo Indigena]], the Department of Rapa Nui Language and Culture at the Lorenzo Baeza Vega School was created. Since 1990, the department has created primary education texts in the [[Rapa Nui language]]. In 2017, the Nid Rapa Nui, a [[non-governmental organization]] was also created with the goal of establishing a school that teaches courses entirely in Rapa Nui.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sopova |first1=Jasmina |last2=Ortega |first2=Carolina |date=January–March 2019 |title=Rapa Nui: Back from the Brink |url=https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/cou_1_19_en.pdf |journal=The UNESCO Courier |pages=13–15 |via=UNESCO.org |publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref>

== Health benefits of language revitalization ==
Language revitalisation has been linked to increased health outcomes for Indigenous communities involved in reclaiming traditional language. Benefits range from improved mental health for community members, increasing connectedness to culture, identity, and a sense of wholeness. Indigenous languages are a core element in the formation of identity, providing pathways for cultural expression, agency, spiritual and ancestral connection.<ref name=":3">Sivak, L. et al. (2019) ‘“Language Breathes Life”-Barngarla Community Perspectives on the Wellbeing Impacts of Reclaiming a Dormant Australian Aboriginal Language’, International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(20). doi: 10.3390/ijerph16203918.</ref> Connection to culture is considered to play an important role in childhood development,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-08-26 |title=A positive sense of Identity and Culture |url=https://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/397/filename/Full_report_-_A_Positive_Sense_of_Identity_and_Culture.pdf |website=ARACY}}</ref> and is a UN convention right.<ref>{{Cite web |title=United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children |url=http://www.unicef.org.au:80/Our-Work/Information-For-Children/UN-Convention-on-the-Rights-of-the-Child |access-date=2021-08-26 |website=[[UNICEF]]}}</ref>

Colonisation and subsequent linguicide carried out through policies such as those that created Australia's [[Stolen Generations]] have damaged this connection. It has been proposed that  language revitalization may play an important role in countering [[intergenerational trauma]] that has been caused.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zuckermann |first=Ghil'ad |chapter= 9. Our ancestors are happy: language revival and mental health |date=2020-06-18 |chapter-url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780199812776.001.0001/oso-9780199812776-chapter-9 |title=Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond|pages=266–280 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780199812776.003.0009 |isbn=978-0-19-981277-6 |access-date=2021-08-26}} Abstract only available to non-subscribers.</ref> Researchers at the [[University of Adelaide]] and [[South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute]] have found that language revitalisation of [[Aboriginal Australian languages|Aboriginal languages]] is linked to better mental health.<ref>{{cite web | last=Richards | first=Stephanie | title="Dreadful" decline in Kaurna language teaching | website=[[InDaily]] | date=25 October 2019 | url=https://indaily.com.au/news/local/2019/10/25/dreadful-decline-in-kaurna-language-teaching/ | access-date=14 December 2023}}</ref> One study in the [[Barngarla people|Barngarla]] Community in [[South Australia]] has been looking holistically at the positive benefits of language reclamation, healing mental and emotional scars, and building connections to community and country that underpin wellness and wholeness. The study identified the Barngarla peoples' connection to their [[Barngarla language|language]] as a strong component of developing a strong cultural and personal identity; the people are as connected to language as they are to culture, and culture is key to their identity.<ref name=":3" /> Some proponents claim that language reclamation is a form of empowerment and builds strong connections with community and wholeness.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/living-languages |title=Living languages |website=AIATSIS |access-date=24 August 2021}}</ref>

== Criticism ==
[[John McWhorter]] has argued that programs to revive [[indigenous language]]s will almost never be very effective because of the practical difficulties involved. He also argues that the death of a language does not necessarily mean the death of a culture. Indigenous expression is still possible even when the original language has disappeared, as with Native American groups and as evidenced by the vitality of [[black American culture]] in the United States, among people who speak not [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] but English. He argues that language death is, ironically, a sign of hitherto isolated peoples migrating and sharing space: "To maintain distinct languages across generations happens only amidst unusually tenacious self-isolation—such as that of the [[Amish]]—or brutal segregation".<ref>{{cite journal | last=McWhorter | first=John | title=The Cosmopolitan Tongue: The Universality of English | journal=World Affairs | publisher=Sage Publications, Inc. | volume=172 | issue=2 | year=2009 | issn=0043-8200 | jstor=20671445 | pages=61–68 | doi=10.3200/WAFS.172.2.61-68 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20671445 | access-date=2024-02-11| url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Kenan Malik]] has also argued that it is "irrational" to try to preserve all the world's languages, as language death is natural and in many cases inevitable, even with intervention. He proposes that language death improves communication by ensuring more people speak the same language. This may benefit the economy and reduce conflict.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11304255 |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Are dying languages worth saving? |date=15 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kenanmalik.com/essays/die.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021204090815/http://www.kenanmalik.com/essays/die.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 4, 2002 |title=Let Them Die |first=Kenan |last=Malik |work=[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]] |date=November 20, 2000 <!-- original publication: http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/letthemdie/ -->}}</ref>

The protection of [[minority language]]s from extinction is often not a concern for speakers of the dominant language. There is often prejudice and deliberate persecution of minority languages, in order to appropriate the cultural and economic capital of minority groups.<ref>Ellis, Peter Berresford. 1985. The Celtic Revolution: A Study in Anti-imperialism. Talybont: Y Lolfa.</ref> At other times governments deem that the cost of revitalization programs and creating linguistically diverse materials is too great to take on.<ref>Tsunoda, Tasaku. Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 2005. 158-159. Print.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[:Category:Language activists]]
* [[Contemporary Latin]]
* [[Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation]]
* [[Endangered languages]]
* [[Language documentation]]
* [[Language nest]]
* [[Language planning]]
* [[Language policy]]
* [[Official language]]
* [[English-only movement]]
* [[Linguistic purism]]
* [[Minority language]]
* [[Regional language]]
* [[Rosetta Project]]
* [[Sacred language]]
* [[Second-language acquisition]]
* [[Treasure language]]
* [[Languages in censuses]]

===Digital projects and repositories===
*[[Lingua Libre]] − a [[FLOSS|libre]] online tool used to record words and phrases of any language (thousands of recordings have already been done in endangered languages like [[Atikamekw language|Atikamekw]], [[Occitan language|Occitan]], [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], and are all available on [[c:Category:Lingua Libre pronunciation|Wikimedia Commons]])
*[[Tatoeba]] contains example sentences with translations in dozens of endangered languages, including [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Breton language|Breton]], [[Basque language|Basque]] and [[Cornish language|Cornish]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Number of sentences per language - Tatoeba |url=https://tatoeba.org/en/stats/sentences_by_language |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=tatoeba.org}}</ref>
*The [[Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages ]] − contains works in endangered languages of the [[Northern Territory]], Australia
* [[FirstVoices]] - contains community-managed dictionaries, songs, stories, and multimedia for Indigenous languages in [[British Columbia]]

===Organizations===
* [[Foundation for Endangered Languages]]
* [[The Language Conservancy]]
* [[Pūnana Leo]], Hawaiian language schools
* [[Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity]]
* [[Culture Vannin]], Manx Gaelic language organization
* [[SIL International]]
* [[First Peoples' Cultural Council]], Indigenous language, arts, and heritage revitalization in British Columbia

===Lists===
* [[Lists of endangered languages]]
* [[List of endangered languages with mobile apps]]
* [[Lists of extinct languages]]
* [[List of language regulators]]
* [[List of revived languages]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Grenoble, L. A. and Whaley, L. J. (1998). ''Endangered Languages: Language Loss and Community Response''. Cambridge University Press. ({{ISBN|0-521-59712-9}})
* Nettle, D. and Romaine, S. (2000). ''Vanishing Voices''. Oxford University Press. ({{ISBN|0-19-515246-8}})
* Reyhner, J. (ed.) (1999). ''Revitalizing indigenous languages''. Flagstaff, AZ : Northern Arizona University, Center for Excellence in Education. ({{ISBN|0-9670554-0-7}})
*Bastardas-Boada, A. (2019). ''[https://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/handle/2445/196101 From language shift to language revitalization and sustainability. A complexity approach to linguistic ecology]''. Barcelona: Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona. ({{ISBN|978-84-9168-316-2}})
* James Griffiths (2021). ''Speak Not: Empire, Identity and the Politics of Language''. Bloomsbury. ({{ISBN| 9781786999665}})

== External links ==
{{External links|date=January 2017}}

=== Organizations ===
* [https://www.firstlanguages.org.au/ First Languages Australia]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101012205100/http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/enduring-voices Enduring Voices Project], ''[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]''
* [http://www.livingtongues.org/hotspots.html Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages]
* [http://www.hrelp.org Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project]
* [http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/ Google Endangered Languages Project]
* [http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/colloques/3l_2012/index.asp?Langues=EN&Page=Home Fourth International 3L Summer School]
* [http://www.rnld.org/ Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity]
* [http://www.oralliterature.org/ World Oral Literature Project, Voices of Vanishing Worlds]

=== Canada ===
* {{Cite web |title=RPM YouTube Playlist – "Revitalization" |work=RPM.fm |access-date=2012-08-08 |url=http://rpm.fm/news/rpm-youtube-playlist-revitalization/}}

=== United States ===
* [[Documenting Endangered Languages]], [https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12816&org=BCS Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) (Archived program)] ''[[National Science Foundation]]''
* [http://www.saivus.org Society to Advance Indigenous Vernaculars of the United States], (Savius.org)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171024043330/http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/resources/focus-groups/revitalizationprograms/ Programs Concerned with Alaska Native Language (ANL) Revitalization]
* {{Cite web |title=The Young Ancestors, Camino Verite Films |access-date=2012-08-08 |url=http://theyoungancestors.com/TheYoungAncestors/Home.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420081338/http://theyoungancestors.com/TheYoungAncestors/Home.html |archive-date=2018-04-20 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite news |last=Stephens |first=Patia |title=Language 911: UM helps rescue fading indigenous voices |work=Vision, Research, Scholarship & Innovation, The University of Montana |access-date=2012-08-08 |year=2006 |url=http://www2.umt.edu/urelations/vision/2007/13language.htm}}

==== California ====
* [http://aicls.org/ Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival]
* [http://www.ilinative.org/ Indigenous Language Institute]
* [http://www.liveyourlanguagealliance.org/ Live Your Language Alliance (LYLA)] "It is the desire of the Live Your Language Alliance to hear and speak the traditional languages of the [[Tolowa language|Tolowa]], [[Karuk language|Karuk]], [[Yurok language|Yurok]], [[Hupa language|Hupa]], [[Tsnungwe]], [[Wiyot language|Wiyot]], [[Mattole]], and [[Eel River Athapaskan peoples|Wailaki]]."
* {{Cite news |last=Agha |first=Marisa |title=Language preservation helps American Indian students stick with college |work=[[The Sacramento Bee]] |access-date=2012-08-08 |date=2012-03-18 |url=http://www.csusm.edu/air/NewsArticles/2012_articles/language_preservation_helps_american_indian_students_stick_with_college.pdf}}

=== Technologies ===
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwLNc-QFUlE&list=UUQElH-OXARO_PycfKd6HPUg&index=1&feature=plcp Recording your elder/Native speaker], practical vocal recording tips for non-professionals
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAUgc5hHAHU&list=UUQElH-OXARO_PycfKd6HPUg&index=9&feature=plcp Learning indigenous languages on Nintendo]
* [http://www.altalang.com/beyond-words/2012/03/26/texting-endangered-languages/ Texting endangered languages]
* [http://www.firstvoices.com/en/apps First Nations endangered languages chat applications]
* [http://www.mpi.nl/DOBES/dobesprogramme/ DOBES Documentation of Endangered Languages]

=== Techniques ===
* {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20121128011323/http://www.kawaiisu.org/KLCC_service.html Kawaiisu Language and Cultural Center training]}}
* [http://aicls.org/ Pointers on How to Learn Your Language] (scroll to link on page)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160306100131/http://www.aicls.org/breathoflife/talks.php Do-it-yourself grammar and reading in your language], Breath of Life 2010 presentations
* [http://www.languagehunters.org/ Language Hunters]
* [http://www.whereareyourkeys.org/ Where Are Your Keys]
* [http://www.lostwordsdocumentary.com/ Lost Words - The Documentary], covers Dr. Stephen Greymorning's Accelerated Second Language Learning

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Language revival| ]]
[[Category:Linguistic purism]]
[[Category:Linguistic rights]]
[[Category:Endangered languages]]