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Language death -

Languages don't vanish on their own. Oftentimes, they’re abandoned due to coercion as outside forces (especially political ones) push people away from their mother tongues through systemic pressure and enforced assimilation.

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A chilling alternative -

In 1892, US Army General Richard Henry Pratt infamously suggested that rather than killing Native people, their cultures should be eliminated instead. He considered it the lesser of two evils, stating: "Kill the Indian, but save the man."

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A dark legacy -

For decades, until 1978, Native American children were forcibly taken from their families, given English names, and punished for speaking their languages in government-funded assimilation boarding schools.

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Cultural genocide -

The suppression of indigenous languages wasn’t accidental. It was a calculated complement to physical genocide, aimed at dismantling entire cultures by erasing their most essential form of expression: language.

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The modern linguistic landscape -

Of the 7,000 languages still spoken today, very few receive official recognition or technological support, especially online. This has left speakers disconnected from both governments and the digital age.

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Globalization -

For many, globalization means being forced to abandon one's native language and identity, which contributes to a deep alienation from personal history and ancestral roots in favor of global norms.

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A grim prediction -

If current trends persist, linguists estimate that up to 3,000 of the world’s languages could disappear within the next 80 years. This would truly be an irreversible loss of human diversity and memory.

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A growing movement of revival -

Despite these odds, people worldwide are taking bold steps to revive their ancestral languages, engaging in a growing movement to rebuild cultures through linguistic reclamation and education.

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Hebrew’s historical awakening -

In the 1800s, amidst rising anti-Semitism, Jewish communities turned to Hebrew (which had remained dormant for over a millennium) as a powerful tool for reclaiming cultural identity and strengthening communal bonds.

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Preserved in sacred pages -

Though unused in daily conversation, Hebrew had survived in religious and philosophical texts, which allowed Jewish activists to study and reintroduce it as a living, spoken language.

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Generations reborn through words -

Dedicated families raised the first new native Hebrew speakers in nearly 100 generations, transforming it from a liturgical language to a vibrant mother tongue spoken by millions today.

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A cultural anchor -

For many, including English-speaking Jews of the diaspora, Hebrew isn’t just a language: it’s a pillar of cultural sovereignty and a living connection to ancient and modern Jewish life.

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Vanishing in plain sight -

But unlike Hebrew, many indigenous languages across the globe never had the benefit of a preserved literary tradition backing their revival; they were simply left to fade away, taking history and culture with them.

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A voice from the county -

Cornish, the native language of the county of Cornwall in England, had gone dormant for over a century, yet activists in the 1900s began the painstaking task of reviving it from old books and plays.

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A scattered linguistic revival -

Despite these early efforts, Cornish speakers remained dispersed across Cornwall and lacked opportunities for regular, meaningful communication in the language. This stalled its widespread resurgence.

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Finding community in cyberspace -

In the early 2000s, Cornish speakers discovered one another online, using digital platforms to speak more often and form a cohesive community built around daily language use.

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From chatrooms to classrooms -

Online interactions grew into real-world events (weekly and monthly meetups) where speakers gathered to converse publicly. This gradually fed into school programs and wider community participation.

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Reclaiming public presence -

Today, Cornish is visible in surprising places: on street signs, in ice-cream ads, across Wikipedia, and in even in memes. The language has truly become embedded in both physical and digital public life.

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A Celtic identity reaffirmed -

On April 24, 2014, Cornwall was formally recognized as a Celtic nation under the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, joining Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Its people proudly proclaim they are more than an English county—they are a distinct culture.

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Another quiet resurgence -

In the US state of Louisiana, the Tunica-Biloxi tribe is reviving its ancestral language, which was once nearly extinct. It has started with one determined family who sought old records in dusty university archives.

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From photocopies to fluency -

Beginning in the 1980s, the Pierite family copied old dictionaries and slowly taught themselves and others the Tunica language, planting the seeds of a modern linguistic renaissance.

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A renaissance in classrooms -

By 2014, language immersion classes for Tunica were established, and nearly 100 people had joined. These classes now produce new generations of fluent Tunica speakers.

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The new wave -

A 2017 census revealed 32 new fluent Tunica speakers, including members of the Pierite family, who are now teaching the language to their children. The sacred legacy will continue, and experts are hopeful that the language will move further away from endangerment.

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Tunica goes digital -

Modern Tunica speakers use digital tools to create content (Facebook videos, memes, and more). This proves that ancestral languages can not only reappear in today’s online ecosystems, but they can also thrive.

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A shared mission -

Hebrew, Cornish, and Tunica are just three threads in a global tapestry of language activism. Language preservation efforts are unfolding in every part of the world, including Jèrriais speakers from the Channel Islands and Kenyan sign language users in Nairobi.

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Media makes the difference -

The unifying element across these efforts is media access. Languages flourish when speakers can create, share, and teach content in ways that bridge generations and distances.

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A hopeful era -

The growth of the internet is revolutionizing language activism. Access to media tools makes it more possible than ever to preserve or reclaim endangered tongues, and this is the crucial element that has helped this movement grow.

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Technology meets tradition -

Some languages that were on the cusp of extinction are now fully integrated into modern life. They can be found preinstalled on smartphones and supported by Google Translate. This has made revival deeply practical.

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A world out there -

Even if your heritage language isn’t widely known, there’s a good chance someone is working to bring it online. All it takes is curiosity and effort to rediscover it.

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Cultural resistance -

In a world driven by globalization, reclaiming your language isn’t just about communication—it’s about reclaiming your full self and standing proudly in your cultural truth.

Sources: (TED Talks) (Great Big Story) (Britannica)

See also: Languages that have gone extinct

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