Top linguists predict that 50 to 90 percent of the world's approximate 6,000 languages will be extinct within the century, Ball State University Professor of Linguistics Carolyn MacKay said.
The United States and Canada have lost 80 percent of their previous 187 indigenous languages, she said.
"People are abandoning minority languages for dominant or majority languages," MacKay said.
The abandonment is out of economic necessity, she said. If people want to participate in their national economy, they have to adopt the dominant language.
MacKay and her husband, associate professor of Linguistics Frank Trechsel, began working together to preserve two indigenous languages in Mexico in the late 1980s.
The languages are Misantla Totonac and Pisaflores Tepehua of the language family Totonac-Tepehua. They are similar languages, like Portuguese and Italian, but not mutually intelligible, MacKay said. Both are spoken in areas of the Mexican state of Veracruz, which is along the Gulf Coast of Mexico.
"The communities are in a difficult position because they need to know Spanish to succeed in the economy, but at the same time they have a strong attachment to their native language and native culture," she said.
There are only 300 native speakers of Misantla Totonac left and all of them are more than 60 years old, MacKay said. Misantla Totonac is a moribund language, which means no one has learned it in the last three generations.
In the town of Pisaflores, Mexico, nearly all of its 2,800 inhabitants speak Spanish and Pisaflores Tepehua, she said.
In contrast with the Misantla region of Veracruz, Pisaflores is a remote town that is very difficult to get to. The Pisaflores Tepehua language has survived because the town is separated from the mainstream Mexican economy by a river, MacKay said. The people of Pisaflores rely on agriculture because they cannot take anything to the markets across the river.
However, she said the Mexican government plans to build a highway that will eventually connect Mexico City and the Gulf Coast that will pass by Pisaflores, opening it up to Spanish-speaking markets. MacKay said she fears this will cause the language to be abandoned.
"[The native speakers] would love to maintain their language, but it's very difficult to do that," she said. "Their main concern is to raise their kids to be successful economically, and they view Spanish as essential to economic success."
Indigenous languages cause problems for speakers when they try to fit into mainstream society, and many people often want to hide their indigenous identity, MacKay said.
"[Indigenous languages] are looked down on as not being true languages, and the indigenous peoples are often looked down on as well," she said.
It is important to save languages to preserve cultural traditions and linguistic diversity, MacKay said.
"The more we know about minority languages, the more we know about universal features of languages [or what is a possible human language]," she said.
When MacKay and Trechsel visit Pisaflores and the Misantla region, a typical day consists of tape-recording native speakers telling traditional stories and talking about everyday activities such as cooking and raising coffee crops. Then MacKay and Trechsel phonetically transcribe what they've recorded with the help of native speakers. Each sound is represented with a symbol, MacKay said.
"We tried working with the community to decide what symbols to use for the different sounds, but there's still disagreement about it," MacKay said. "We used one system, but the community is still working out which orthography everyone can agree on."
It can take up to two months to transcribe two days' worth of recording, MacKay said.
"We need native speakers to repeat what is said very slowly for us to write it down accurately," she said.
MacKay said she also asks them how to say different forms of words, like "I see," "You see" and "We see."
Misantla Totonac and Pisaflores Tepehua had never been documented on paper until MacKay and Trechsel began their work. They have published one grammar in Spanish, one grammar in English and are currently working on a dictionary in Misantla Totonac. A grammar explains sounds, word conjugation and how to construct sentences, MacKay said.
MacKay and Treschel also published three children's books, including a Tepehua folktale, and hope to publish a dictionary for the Pisaflores Tepehua language.
Their works were distributed to schools and libraries in both communities so younger generations could learn their native languages and keep them alive.
After working closely with the indigenous peoples of the Gulf Coast, MacKay said she and Treschel have bonded with the communities.
"Our relationship is not just one of consultants," MacKay said. "We have enjoyed working with these people very much. [They] are friends now. We're always very happy to call and see what everyone's doing."
MacKay said the professors plan to return to their work in Mexico in May and June of next year.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
