Historical Linguistics: Discovery and Preservation of Lost Languages

From discovering the roots of modern day languages to battling the revitalization and preservation of the previously repressed tongues of besieged indigenous communities, historical linguists are diligently at work. These individuals, spending their lives studying the linguistics branch of anthropology, play major roles in the preservation of our past. They’ve devised means of, not only figuring out where modern day languages developed from, but how long ago these languages were developed. Through the use of glottochronology, a method of basing studies off of core vocabularies to develop a timeline for when certain languages branched from ancestral languages, historical linguists can visualize language morphing through history.

A major ancestor to the majority of today’s spoken languages is the Proto-Indo-European language. From this grandfather language one can find Latin, Germanic, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Icelandic, and even English, along with many others. Tracing the historical path of languages around the globe is no simple task. Historical linguists have to study and utilize many methods to determine where a language should reside within the “language” family tree.

One prime example of a language morphing through time is Latin, located under the ancestral language of Italic. While today Latin is considered to be a dead language, historical linguists have concluded it to have been spoken almost 1,500 years ago in southern Europe(1). During the unraveling of this interesting discovery, they found Latin to be an ancestral language to the Romance languages such as Spanish, Romanian, Italian, French, Catalan, and Portuguese. This alteration was the result of constant conversations with Germanic speaking individuals(1). Overtime these two ancestral languages, Latin and Germanic, found their path to extinction, yet along the way they became meshed together, spawning new modern day languages.

Throughout time, languages morph via adding new words, altering the meaning of current words, and even developing modern day idioms. A thousand years ago, cultures around the world would have not used the word computer, nor would it have been in their vocabulary, but with today’s technological discoveries, the word “computer” is used in everyday settings. Along with the newly added word “computer” comes newly added words that branch from it. Without the invention of computer, we would have no internet. Without the invention of the internet, Google would not be possible. The phrase “Google it” is used on a regular basis these days, yet without the modern day language’s ability to constantly morph through time, this phrase would make no sense. This is just one example of how languages change through history. Another can be located in Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge by Haviland, Prins, McBride, and Walrath. They leave their readers with a great example of how a simple word like “father” can change through history.

As an illustration, the word for “father” in the Germanic languages always starts with anf closely related v sound (Dutch vader, German Vater, Gothic Fadar). Among the Romance languages, by contrast, the comparable word always starts with a p: Frenchpère, Spanish and Italian padre—all derived from the Latin pater. The original Indo-European word for “father” was p’ter, so in this case, the Romance languages haveretained the earlier pronunciation, whereas the Germanic languages have diverged.(1)

I found this passage intriguing, how such a small change in a word over time from culture to culture can lead to such a major alteration of it.

Another way languages diversify themselves is through the actions of certain cultures borrowing other cultures terms and phrases. A personal estimate to the validity of this statement is my use of French terms associate with culinary arts. My use of the phrase, “mis en place” which literally translates to “putting in place,” is used on a regular basis while I’m cooking to represent my having everything prepped before I begin. Another epicurean term for me is “Amuse bouche” to represent a single bite sized hors d’oeuvre. The slight use of the French language in my daily speech could have extreme alterations to my future generations. On a grander scale, this could alter a culture’s entire speech completely, leading to a new branch of the “language family tree.”

Other changes in languages can be represented by small groups within a larger society developing their own terms and phrases to exclude outsiders from being able to converse with them. This can include groups of friends, teams, and even social classes. Not only will these individuals alter the meanings of certain words and phrases, but they will sometimes alter them phonologically. Phonology is the study of how a language sounds. By altering the way a certain group of individuals sounds out a certain word or phrase, they’re altering the language(1).

Throughout the years languages around the globe have become extinct, leading to the loss of historical data related to that particular language. This could lead to the loss of important historical knowledge, leaving our current societies having to rediscover things around the world. A prime example of this is located in the Bolivian highlands. The ancient secret language of Kallawaya used by Indian herbal healers, houses the names of about 1000 medicinal plants (1). Without the preservation of the Kallawaya language, society would have to rediscover everything this culture has already happened upon. This would leave our world in a constant loop of rediscovery and end up retarding our path to the future.

At one time in America’s governmental history, Native American children were required to attend boarding schools where only English was taught. This developed a young society of Native Americans unable to converse with relatives and neighbors. While programs such as this don’t exist anymore, the malediction it left among Native American cultures is ever lasting.

Events such as these have led to the creation of organizations like UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Science, and Cultural Organization, and activists like S. Neyooxet Greymorning. UNESCO initiated B@ble in 2001, as a means of utilizing communication technologies to support linguistic and cultural diversity(1). Greymorning, a professor of anthropology and Native American studies at the University of Montana, is working hard to restore and revive the endangered languages of Native American cultures.

With languages around the globe changing so frequently and rapidly, preservation of once spoken tongues becomes extremely important. Through the works of individuals like Graymorning and organizations like UNESCO, humanity around the globe can preserve the lost languages of the past.

Learn more about what you can do to help preserve humanities linguistic history via visiting the links provided in this article and as always feel free to converse below, I love hearing opinions.