The Emperor’s Fading Echo: The Precarious Survival of the Manchu Language
Once the official language of China's last imperial dynasty, Manchu is now on the verge of extinction with only a handful of native speakers left. This is the story of…
Tag: language revitalization
The World’s Smallest Languages: When a Language Has Fewer Than 10 Speakers
What happens when a language's entire world can fit into a single room? We explore the most extreme cases of language endangerment, from the Tolowa Dee-ni' in the US to…
The First-Contact Linguist: The Ethical Tightrope of Studying a Previously Uncontacted People’s Language
What are the ethical responsibilities of a linguist who is the first outsider to document a language from a previously uncontacted people? This article explores the high-stakes world of first-contact…
Resurrecting Dead Languages: A Journey into Linguistic Archaeology
Linguistics, in the simplest sense, is the study of languages. But what happens when the language itself has been lost to time, when there are...
Preserving Endangered Languages: An Urgent Quest for Linguistic Diversity
Every language encapsulates a unique world view, an intricate tapestry of culture, history, and identity. However, many of these linguistic gems are rapidly disappearing, falling...