Discover Top Posts Tagged with #reversing language shift

Endangered langblrs #2

This is the second post of this kind. As in the last post #1 I want to introduce you to important helpers of revitalising and documenting endangered and lesser-used languages here on tumblr. So, I will name some langblrs that deal partly or wholly with those languages. If you know more of such langblrs please tell me right away and I will mention them in a next post.

Greenlandic

Kalaallisut is a lesser-used language and certainly a minority language within the Danish realm.

@tulunnguaq

Laz language

ლაზური ენა, lazuri ena, or ჭანური ენა, ç̌anuri ena is an endangered Kartvelian language spoken by 22,000 people in Turkey and Georgia that is related to Georgian.

@anadolular

Chickasaw

Chikashshanompa’ is a Muscogean language that is currently spoken by less than 75 people in Oklahoma.

@fractalrainbow

Irish

Gaeilge is the national language of Ireland but only has around 74,000 mother speakers.

@teangacha @chronically-chilll @seanfhocail

Scottish Gaelic

Gàidhlig is also a Celtic language as Irish is and is spoken in Scotland and Canada by only 57,000 mother speakers.

@ambi-alba @selchieproductions @sgribhisg

Cornish

Kernowek is a revived Celtic language that has gained some new mother speakers again.

@fortheloveoflanguistics (Also about language revitalisation in general)

Sami languages

Saami languages are Uralic languages, related to Finnish and Estonian, and are spoken by around 30,000 mother speakers.

@selchieproductions (Southern Swedish Saami) @fara-learns-sami (Northern Saami)

I really hope that this will inspire more of you to submit other blogs that deal with a certain endangered, lesser-used or minority/regional language or with language endangerment and revitalisation in general. The network and possibilities of tumblr are such good resources for languages that have hardly any visibility elsewhere and especially no resources to learn with. So, let’s spread this message further, so I will get more submission of endangered langblrs to share with you. Thanks a lot!

Quebec Liberal MP Marc Miller holds speech in Mohawk

For the first time since Confederation, Mohawk was spoken in the House of Commons. Not by an indigenous person itself, but by a Marc Miller, an anglophone non-indigenous member of the Parliament of Quebec. Even though it is not his mother tongue, it is an exceptional gesture and example. He has been learning the Mohawk language secretly for months and wanted to pay tribute to the First Nations at the beginning of the National Aboriginal History Month. He wants to encourage more people to learn more about indigenous cultures and languages. His speech has been perceived very positive by others, also indigenous people: "I always thought they'd laugh at me and say, 'Is this guy ridiculous? Who is this clown?' But it's been the opposite. It's been extremely positive."

Akwiratékha’ Martin who teaches Mohawk at Kahnawake’s immersion school said: “I applaud his efforts and it’s very respectful. [...] I hope that he continues using the language in his job. But most of all, I wish that he helps get all (indigenous language) programs funded that are not recognized or funded by his government. I’m sure that he knows now that for us speaking our language is medicine and heals a part of our spirit.”

Marc Miller spoke about the revelation this adventure gave him: "It's very odd that we can say hello in 15 languages that aren't Canadian, but we can't say hello in a First Nations language. This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you can communicate, you can understand where people are coming from."

#Mohawk #Canada #Quebec #Marc Miller #National Aboriginal History Month #First Nations #Indigenous #endangered language #reversing language shift #House of Commons #Kanien’kéha #Kanyen’kéha

Thank you for your support

We are speechless! We just started our new blog yesterday and suddenly we have 180 followers by today. Thank you so much!

Weekly submission post

Because we have gotten a lot of language suggestions from you we decided to do something different. In addition to the weekly featured language we will also do a weekly post with your submitted languages altogether and refer to your or someone else’s posts.

So, we want to encourage you to write an own post where you speak a little bit about your favourite language and where you put together some links to learning materials that are available online, such as grammars, dictionaries, texts, audios, online courses etc. You don’t have to be a speaker of that language in order to compose such a post. If you don’t want to publish a post with your account, you can also draft one and send it to us and we will feature that article in the weekly languages post.

#Endangered languages #Endangered language challenge #Reversing language shift #language diversity #Endangered langblrs