Language Extinction

A language dies when the last person who speaks it dies. But you know, sometimes people say it dies when the second-last person who speaks it dies, because the last person has nobody to talk to. Well, of course, languages have come and gone throughout history as communities have come and gone. But what's happening now is something really quite extraordinary. Well, there are about 6000 languages in the world at the moment, more or less. Nobody knows the exact number. And of these, people think that about half of them are so seriously endangered, but they are likely to die out in the course of present century. Now the present century is a hundred years, half is 3000 languages. So, that means one language is dying out somewhere in the world on average every two weeks.

There are all kinds of reasons why languages die, one is physical reasons when people are affected by famine and disease and earthquake. Another is genocide, when some countries deliberately try stamp out a small language. The main reason is globalization. That is, there are some huge languages in the world, like English, Arabic, and Spanish and French, and these are like stream rollers crushing the smaller languages they find in their path.

A great deal can be done to preserve endangered language. The first thing is that the people themselves must want the language to be preserved. That's very important. The second thing is that the powers- that- be must want the language to be preserved. They must be respect for the minority languages in their care. The third thing has to be there, of course, is cash. It costs quite a lot of money to preserve an endangered language. Think about it, You have to train the teachers, you have to write books for the children. And all sorts of things. It doesn't cost a extraordinary amount of money, but it does cost a bit. So without money, endangered languages don't have a positive future.

语言的消亡

当最后一个说这种语言的人死了，这种语言也就死了。但你知道吗，有时人们说它死是因为倒数第二个说它的人死了，因为最后一个人没有人可以说话。当然，语言的出现和消失伴随着历史的变迁。 但是现在正在发生的事情是非常不寻常的。 目前世界上大约有6000种语言，或多或少。 没有人知道确切的数字。 在这些语言中，人们认为大约有一半是濒临灭绝的，它们很可能在本世纪的过程中灭绝。现在的本世纪是一百年，一半是3000种语言。 所以，这意味着平均每两周就有一种语言在世界上的某个地方消失。

语言消亡有各种各样的原因，其中一个是生理原因，当人们受到饥荒，疾病和地震的影响。另一个是种族灭绝，一些国家故意消灭一种小语言。 主要原因是全球化。 也就是说，世界上有一些庞大的语言，比如英语、阿拉伯语、西班牙语和法语，这些语言就像溪流碾压着它们遇到的较小的语言。

 我们可以做很多事情来保护濒危的语言。首先，人们自己必须希望保留这种语言。 这是非常重要的。 第二件事是，当权者必须希望保留这种语言。 他们必须尊重他们所照顾的少数民族语言。 当然，第三件必须存在的事情是现金。 保护一种濒危语言要花很多钱。 想想看，你必须训练老师，你必须为孩子们写书。 还有各种各样的东西。 它不需要花费太多的钱，但确实有点贵。 因此，如果没有钱，濒临灭绝的语言不会有积极的未来。