For Rare Languages, Social Media Provide New Hope (fwd link)

[Andrew Cunningham]

Although at the same time social media provides unique challenges for
languages that use lesser used writing scripts.

Andrew


On 31 July 2014 07:43, Phil Cash Cash <weyiiletpu at gmail.com> wrote:

> *For Rare Languages, Social Media Provide New Hope*
>
> By LYDIA EMMANOUILIDOU
> Originally published on Sat July 26, 2014 6:59 pm
>
> At a time when social media users, for no particularly good reason, are
> trading in fully formed words for abbreviations ("defs" instead of
> "definitely"), it may seem that some languages are under threat of
> deterioration — literally.
>
> But social media may actually be beneficial for languages.
>
> Of the estimated 7,000 languages that are spoken around the world, UNESCO
> projects half will disappear by the end of the century. But social
> networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter are in a position to
> revitalize and preserve indigenous, minority and endangered languages,
> linguists and language-preservation activists say.
>
> One of the reasons some indigenous languages are endangered is that
> increased connectivity through the Internet and social media have
> strengthened dominant languages such as English, Russian and Chinese, says
> Anna Luisa Daigneault of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered
> Languages.
>
> Endangered languages stand a greater chance of survival when they are used
> online.
>
> "Having a Web presence for those languages is super important for their
> survival. Social media are just another connection point for people who
> want to stay connected to their language," says Daigneault, Latin America
> projects coordinator and development officer at the institute.
>
> ​Access full article below:
> http://wkms.org/post/rare-languages-social-media-provide-new-hope​
>
>


-- 
Andrew Cunningham
Project Manager, Research and Development
(Social and Digital Inclusion)
Public Libraries and Community Engagement
State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia

Ph: +61-3-8664-7430
Mobile: 0459 806 589
Email: acunningham at slv.vic.gov.au
          lang.support at gmail.com

http://www.openroad.net.au/
http://www.mylanguage.gov.au/
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/
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