Marxism and The Survival of Endangered Languages

In my Linguistics and language acquisition classes, we recently discussed the factors that affect language vitality.

We watched a documentary about two linguists whose goal is to record as many dying languages as possible before they are lost. According to their research, of the 7,000+ languages of the world, a language is lost every 2-4 weeks (most of the endangered languages are oral languages).

The factors that affect language vitality are:
1. Intergenerational language transmission
2. Community member's attitudes towards their own languages
3. Shifts in domains of language use (the more spheres it is used for i.e. government, home, science, school, etc.)
4. Governmental/institutional attitudes and policies about official language
5. Type and quality of documentation of the language
6. Response to new domains and media (is it adapting to Twitter/other technology?)
7. Availability of materials for language education and literacy
8. Proportion of speakers within the total population
9. Absolute number of speakers worldwide

The first language the linguists sought to rescue was the Chulym  language of Siberia. When Russia invaded the area, Russian obviously became the dominant language and Chulym was forbidden by the government and viewed as the "gutter language" of the "uneducated." When they found the isolated village that had the last 9 remaining speakers of Chulym, all but two of the speakers were in their 90s and almost deaf. They worked with a 50 year old Chulym speaker to record the language and help the village create a small story book in Chulym. The first book in that language. The children drew illustrations and the village was able to reconnect with a language of their past. Now only 5 Chulym speakers are alive on the earth.

The second language they recorded is the Kallawaya language of Bolivia. It has survived centuries and centuries in one village. Every year, there are only about 100 speakers of the language. How did the language survive centuries of time with these odds? Well, Kallawaya contains the categorization for up to 10,000 plant names used in the medicine rituals and industry of Bolivia. The elders of the village pass the language down to the young men to learn the language of their trade.

In other words, the answer relates to Marxist theories that everything is based in economics. The language survives because it provides income; it is the language of their job. The other factors that influence its survival is the prestige of knowing the medicinal language and there is a constant need for the medicinal trade. In the end, it's all about economics.

It also speaks to Bhaba's ideas of colonization (Russia of this Siberian region). They cannot return to what they were before. It creates a third culture, a third space.