To me it’s tragic that languages are disappearing and, with them, unique cultures.
Small, determined efforts can bring attention to the problem, as I noted this morning when the filmmaker behind Marie’s Dictionary retweeted this from North Carolina’s Pilot Mountain Elementary School (@pilotMtnElem).
Third grade students are learning about Marie’s Dictionary and endangered languages. @goproject #scsed #pmespirates @UNESCO
Excellent. Third graders are sure to spread the word.
Recently, I came across an article on another threatened language, Hawaii Sign Language.
“In 2013, at a conference on endangered languages, a retired teacher named Linda Lambrecht announced the extraordinary discovery of a previously unknown language. Lambrecht – who is Chinese-Hawaiian, 71 years old, warm but no-nonsense – called it Hawaii Sign Language, or HSL.
“In front of a room full of linguists, she demonstrated that its core vocabulary – words such as ‘mother,’ ‘pig’ and ‘small’ – was distinct from that of other sign languages. …
“The last-minute arrival of recognition and support for HSL was a powerful, almost surreal vindication for Lambrecht, whose first language is HSL. For decades, it was stigmatised or ignored; now the language has acquired an agreed-upon name, an official ‘language code’ from the International Organization for Standardization, the attention of linguists around the world, and a three-year grant from the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. …
“An initial estimate of up to 280 surviving HSL signers was soon revised down to 40, then down to just 10 or so old-timers still likely to be competent in HSL. ASL had made deep inroads even among these signers, but there was evidence, especially from Lambrecht’s signs, that HSL was distinct, and lay close enough to the surface to be recovered. Spoken languages such as Basque, Welsh, and Hawaiian have come back from the brink of extinction – could HSL be the first sign language to do it?”
The article is from the Guardian by way of the blog Arts Journal. Read it here.
Photo: Eugene Tanner Photography, LLC
Linda Lambrecht, left, teaches Hawaii Sign Language. 
It’s hard to believe that this was completely unknown–I mean, it’s not as if it was occurring in some obscure corner of a rainforest or desert!
Yes, that’s strange. But I can imagine that Hawaiians who speak sign language are isolated from the international linguistic community. Makes me wonder what other cultures are isolated but right under our noses.
I agree with your first statement about it being, “tragic that languages are disappearing and, with them, unique cultures.” This piece you wrote about HSL is fascinating. Thank you for sharing.
And thank you for visiting. Language is so important for identity and uniqueness. Even within families, certain phrases have particular meaning. I’d hate to see it all become too homogenized.