How is language related to social and economic inequality? And how is this inequality related to how languages flourish, change, or die out?

Question

Can you give examples of how some endangered languages have been revived?

Answer 1

Hi Michelle!

Often times this is an issue of colonization. For example, when Native Americans were subjugated by European colonists, several languages were lost or became second languages on preserved through generational acquisition. Economically speaking, those who were colonized are always at a disparity. Since they don't regularly interact with the higher powers in a business setting, the language they use becomes a symbol indicative of lower imaginary value.

Think about the Norman Conquest--when the Normans took Medieval England, the courtly language was French. As a result, latan based words became integrated into English culture, becoming another distinctive lexical set. This is why half of the words in English are Latin based, and the other half are Germanic. Furthermore, this is also why the Latin root words are often considered formal, where the Germanic rooted words are often informal. This is another example of the impacts of colonization on a language!

Hope this helps !