How to Resurrect Dying Languages
Community activists are using creative methods to revive endangered languages and reawaken dormant ones
By Anna Luisa Daigneault
In the 1970s, the Hawaiian language seemed poised for extinction. Only about 2,000 native speakers remained, and most were over age 60. Then a dedicated group of advocates launched immersion schools, a Hawaiian radio program, and an island-wide movement to resuscitate the melodious language. Today more than 18,600 people speak Hawaiian as fluently as they speak English.
Around the world, other Indigenous languages are experiencing revivals. More and more children are being raised as native speakers of Euskara in Spain, Māori in New Zealand, and Quechua in Peru and Bolivia. Activists are making street signs, public maps, news programs, films, publications, websites, and music available in various heritage languages.
Some people are even resurrecting “extinct” languages. In southwest England, Cornish — whose last native speaker died in 1777 — was taken off UNESCO’s list of extinct languages in 2010 and is enjoying a small but proud reawakening, thanks in part to the internet.
We live in a pivotal time for language revitalization. More than half the world’s languages are in danger of being…
