Talk:Language revitalization

"in lieu of"?

Number 5 under "Steps in reversing language shift" reads:

Where the state permits it, and where numbers warrant, encourage the use of the language in lieu of compulsory state education.

I am a native speaker of English, and I do not understand how a language could be used "in lieu of" education. Is this a standard expression in some form of English? I am from the US, and it makes no sense to me, but perhaps it makes sense in some other dialect(s). I see how a language could be used "in lieu of" the official state language in compulsory education, and would recommend changing the wording here.

Jalopeura (talk) 10:18, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Old Norwegian

Why is Old Norwegian a revived language? Old Norwegian is the dialect of Old Norse spoken in Norway, that later evolved into modern Norwegian. I don't see how you can "revive" such a language. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kiven (talk • contribs) 06:42, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Akkurat! I've nothing against Old Norwegian but it has no business here. Robert Greer (talk) 03:43, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

If Old Norwegian had to go, then so do Greek Katharevousa, Latin, and Sanskrit, which have all evolved into other modern languages. Suomichris (talk) 21:45, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Indigenous languages of the Americas

"Indigenous languages of the Americas" should be replaced with specific languages -- I'll make a list and add it here. --babbage 22:57, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Ladino?

The Ladino article says that it is in decline everywhere. Is this correct? Should it be removed from this page? Jd2718 20:55, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Nynorsk?

To be revived, mustn't a language be endangered? Jd2718 21:00, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Has apparently been removed, but its presence could've been justified on the grounds that it was a recovered language of the nineteenth century (more precisely, an amalgam of dialects which may or may not have been in danger of dying out). Robert Greer (talk) 03:46, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Taking this out again. Nynorsk, as I understand it, is the written form of the the "Scandinavian" spoken in Norway at a certain time. It thus isn't any more 'endangered' than 16th century English, and doesn't have a place on this page. Suomichris (talk) 21:45, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Catalan

I wouldn't say Catalan has ever been an endangered language as a whole, particularly in Catalonia. It was a banned language, which is different. Nowadays it may be considered endangered, though, in France and Italy. Purplefire 08:06, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Galician

I don't understand how Galician, spoken and/or understood by the vast majority of the population at the time it was made a joint co-offciial language following the demise of the Franco regime could ne "revived". Whether or not it is actually enjoying a social revival is also a moot question. Surely this article should be claerer about wahat is meant by "revival" as opposed to standardisation of fully normal social usage of a language. Neal —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.60.79.142 (talk) 18:48, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Languages Listed?

A lot of the languages listed seem odd to include as examples of 'language revitalization', especially Czech (with 12 million speakers), Basque (with more than 1 million), and Taiwanese (with between 15 and 49 million speakers). On the ground language revitalization is usually working with only a few speakers (if any) on languages. I wonder about making two categories for this page: a section for languages with language populations of speakers, but which are still under threat (such as Basque), and languages, for example, of North America, with a very low number of speakers. These situations warrant different treatments, I think. It would also be nice to have citations that these languages listed are 'endangered'.

Thoughts? Suomichris (talk) 21:45, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

• You miss one important point: some of the languages you consider inapropriate for the list had indeed been endangered and revitalised in the past. For example, Czech in the 19th century. Nowadays, Czech does have 10 million speakers or so, but this concerns the present time, not the 19th century.

Nairam (talk) 21:46, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

And when was it endangered? The Czech language article makes no mention of it ever being so.Yobmod (talk) 17:14, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Czech National Revival is relevant for the revitalization of Czech. Man vyi (talk) 14:44, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Unicted for months moved from article for citing:

Ainu Belarusian Coptic Cornish Hakka Hawai'ian

Leonese Manx Scottish Gaelic Tlingit West Frisian

I'm just glancing through the contents list of Fishman (2001). Irish, Frisian, Basque, Catalan and Ainu all appear in chapter titles. I've tried to widen the definition at the beginning of the article. Fishman uses the term threatened, or weaker language. The majority of the world's languages probably fall into that category. But listing them all here is not going to be very useful. Perhaps we should just focus on key examples, of which Hebrew has to be one. Cornish and Irish revitalisation are also described in Wikipedia, so there seem like useful examples for further reading. Gailtb (talk) 14:07, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Split this article?

In thinking about this article yesterday, I wonder if there isn't space for two articles. 'Language revitalization' on the one hand, to cover endangered languages and attempts to revive them, and 'Language revival', which could cover efforts to promote languages such as Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, etc., which are not dead in that they have descendant languages.

Thoughts on this? Another possibility would be to put a separate section in 'language revitalization' to clarify how it is different than efforts to promote Latin, Sanskrit, etc.

Suomichris (talk) 19:34, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

A separate section sounds good to me. At the very least, I'd say that a qualifier would require actual communication in the language, not merely (for example) translating or writing things into the language. For instance, I'm a speaker of Old English, and there are a few people whom I communicate with, and this is often our medium of choice. — ᚹᚩᛞᛖᚾᚻᛖᛚᛗ (talk) 14:07, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

No criticism?

There's no section on criticism of language revitalization, while there probably should be. Many people have criticized it as being divisive and keeping people poor or isolated from the larger world culture, as it isolates them by preventing them from communicating as well. Titanium Dragon (talk) 23:42, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

I do not think such section is needed. As it speaks of reviving languages, not promoting monolingualism and poor education. Nothing prevents bein open to the world numerous cultures and economy in your own language. Easy example : Wikipedia in many endangered languages. Though critics might have a purpose if the article refers to a specific case promoting monolingualism. Which I think it is not the case for the moment. 70.50.46.202 (talk) 08:24, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

While I happen to believe that revitalization is a worthwhile goal, I support the need for a section on criticism of the endeavor. Such a section would be useful even to supporters of revitalization, as it would help them to be more informed. babbage (talk) 06:59, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Disputed

Many of the supposedly "revived" languages discussed here were never even endangered, let alone near extinction. Either the definition is wrong, or the examples are, either way this article is original research and in desperate need of citations.Yobmod (talk) 16:31, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Anglo-Saxon

I'm just asking (I have no intention of inserting this into the article at all), would the recent minor revival of Old English be considered a legitimate (or even semi) language revitalization? I know of several people who speak it, and some of us actually use it as a preferred means of communication, but there arent any modern native speakers– yet. So far, its primary use is among those interested in ancient European history, as well as adherents to Heathenry. — ᚹᚩᛞᛖᚾᚻᛖᛚᛗ (talk) 13:59, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Interesting question but I would hazard a guess that it doesn't count as language revival if a community is not aiming to establish at least a nucleus of native speakers. Manx is small but definitely has always aimed for neo-native speakers. Same goes for Palawa kani. Akerbeltz (talk) 21:17, 15 June 2010 (UTC)