Should we save endangered languages?
I met Ariep on an island in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Being the last fluent Naati speaker in the area, he sorrowfully expressed his fear that, with his death, the language would no longer exist.
Naati is just an example of endangered languages. Today, 50% to 90% of the world's languages are considered at risk of falling out of use by the end of the century.
Over the last 10 years, this crisis has attracted more public attention. While we praise previous efforts made to protect dying languages native to specific places and spoken by aboriginal(土著的)people, let's stop and ask: Why does it matter?
Should Naati's fate concern the world? Many speakers of endangered languages, including Ari-ep, communicate fluently in other languages. Is the hope of “saving” these small languages just a romantic idea of unrealistic scholars?
As a linguist, I'm on the opposite side of those answering “yes”. I understand how critical and urgent language loss is. Individual communities rely on languages to form culture and identity, and for the global community languages are an invaluable source of information about human cognition(认知).
If a language is lost, the relevant community heritage will disappear. For instance, people who speak Lulamogi in Uganda feel anxious that as people forget the terms describing methods of catching and eating while ants, they will also forget this important cultural practice. Language loss also means a loss of community identity and self-determination. Measuring their exact damage is hard, but the loss indeed harms the well-being of community members. By contrast, the ability of community members to speak their native language together enhances well-being. In British Columbia, re-search has proved that the young generations in communities where at least 50% of the people speak the native language tend to exhibit a stronger sense of well-being and more optimistic attitudes to-ward life.
When a language is disappearing, more is lost than just certain bits of information. Under-standing language is vital to understanding human cognition. Every language presents us with apiece of the puzzle for finding out how language works in our mind, without which we are prevented from seeing the full picture.
For everyone's sake, we must preserve the world's languages to ensure linguistic diversity for future generations.
8. What does the underlined word “ it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A.Ariep's fear. | B.Naati's fate. |
C.Public concern over the crisis. | D.Protecting endangered languages. |
9. What are the consequences of language loss?
①Broken dreams of scholars.
②Loss of information sources.
③Failure to understand the world.
④Damaging effects on well-being.
⑤Disappearance of cultural heritage.
10. Which of the following words can best describe the author's attitude toward saving endangered languages?
A.Neutral. | B.Supportive. | C.Unconcerned. | D.Disapproving. |
11. Where is the text probably taken from?
A.A diary. | B.A novel. | C.A report. | D.A magazine. |