How to save a language from extinction | Daniel Bögre Udell

Translator: Ulrik Dolzyk Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

Languages don't just die naturally.

Sprog uddør ikke bare af sig selv.

People abandon mother tongues, because they're forced to.

Folk opgiver deres modersmål fordi de er tvunget til det.

Often, the pressure is political.

Ofte er presset politisk.

In 1892,

I 1892

the US Army general Richard Henry Pratt

sagde en amerikansk general, Richard H. Pratt

argued that killing indigenous cultures

at udryddelsen af indfødte kulturer

was the only alternative to killing indigenous people.

var det eneste alternativ til udryddelsen af indfødte folk.

"Kill the Indian," he said, "but save the man."

"Dræb indianeren," sagde han, "men spar mennesket."

And until 1978, the government did just that,

Og indtil 1978 gjorde regeringen lige dét

removing indigenous children from their families

ved at fjerne indfødte børn fra deres familier

and forcing them into boarding schools where they were given English names

og tvinge dem på kostskoler hvor de fik engelske navne

and punished for speaking their languages.

og blev straffet for at tale sit sprog.

Assimilation was a complement to genocide.

Assimilation var komplement til folkedrab.

Seven thousand languages are alive today,

I dag findes der syv tusind sprog

but few are recognized by their own governments

men få er anerkendt af deres egne regeringer

or supported online.

eller støttet online.

So for people from the vast majority of cultures,

Så for folk fra størstedelen af kulturer

globalization remains profoundly alienating.

er globaliseringen dybt fremmedgørende.

It means giving up your language for someone else's.

Det betyder at man opgiver sit sprog for en andens.

And if nothing changes,

Og hvis intet ændrer sig,

as many as 3,000 languages could disappear in 80 years.

kan så mange som 3000 sprog uddø i løbet af de næste 80 år.

But things are changing.

Heldigvis ændrer tingene sig.

Around the world,

Overalt i verden

people are reviving ancestral languages

genopliver folk sine forfædres sprog

and rebuilding their cultures.

og genopbygger sine kulturer.

As far as we know,

Så vidt vi ved,

language reclamation began in the 1800s when, at a time of rising antisemitism,

begyndte genoplivelsen af sprog i 1800erne hvor grundet den voksende antisemitisme,

Jewish communities looked to their ancestral language, Hebrew,

jødiske fælleskaber brugte deres sprogarv, hebraisk

as a means of cultural revival.

som et middel til kulturel genoplivelse.

And though it had been dormant for over 1,000 years,

Og selvom det ikke havde været talt i over 1000 år

it was well preserved in books of Jewish religion and philosophy.

var det bevaret i jødiske religiøse og filosofiske bøger.

So Jewish activists studied and taught it to their children,

Jødiske aktivister studerede og underviste deres børn i sproget

raising the first native speakers in nearly 100 generations.

som blev dets første modersmålstalere i næsten 100 generationer.

Today, it's the mother tongue of five million Jews.

I dag er det et modersmål for fem milioner jøder.

And at least for me,

Og for mit vedkommende,

an assimilated English-speaking member of the Jewish diaspora,

som en assimileret, engelsktalende medlem af den jødiske diaspora,

a pillar of cultural sovereignty.

en grundpille i kulturel suverænitet.

Two thousand years later,

To tusind år senere,

we're still here.

er vi her stadigvæk.

Now, until recently,

Indtil for nyligt

Hebrew's reawakening was an anomaly.

var genoplivelsen af hebraisk noget usædvanligt.

Few languages are as well preserved as ours was,

Få sprog er så godt bevaret som vores,

and the creation of Israel,

og med oprettelsen af Israel,

the first Jewish state in over 1,000 years,

den første jødiske stat i over 1000 år,

provided a space for Hebrew's daily use.

fik man et sted, hvor hebraisk kunne bruges dagligt.

In other words, most cultures just weren't given a chance.

Med andre ord, fik andre kulturer bare ikke en chance.

(Video) Good evening, I'm Elizabeth

(Video) Godaften, jeg hedder Elizabeth

and I live in Cornwall.

og jeg bor i Cornwall.

That was Cornish,

Det var kornisk,

the ancestral language of Cornwall,

det traditionelle sprog i Cornwall,

which today is technically a county in southern England.

som i dag er et grevskab i Sydengland

In the 1900s, Cornish activists fought for their culture.

I 1900-tallet kæmpede korniske aktivister for sin kultur.

The language had been dormant for over 100 years,

Sproget havde ikke været talt i over 100 år,

but they used old books and plays to teach it to their children.

men de brugte gamle bøger og skuespil til at lære sine børn det.

However, this new generation of Cornish speakers

Den nye, kornisktalende generation

was scattered across Cornwall

var dog spredt over hele Cornwall

and unable to use the language freely.

og kunne ikke bruge sproget frit.

By the 1990s, Cornish had reawakened,

I 1990'erne var kornisk genoplivet,

but it wasn't thriving.

men det trivedes ikke.

Then, in the early 2000s, Cornish speakers found one another online

Men så, i starten af 2000'erne, fandt korniske talere hinanden online

and leveraged digital spaces to speak on a daily basis.

og brugte digitale rum til at tale sproget dagligt.

From there, they organized weekly or monthly events

Derefter organiserede de ugentlige og månedlige events,

where they could gather and speak in public.

hvor de kunne mødes og tale sproget offentligt.

Today, some schools teach Cornish.

I dag er der korniskundervisning på nogle skoler.

There are Cornish language signs,

Der er korniske skilte,

ice-cream commercials,

isreklamer,

Wikipedia, and even memes.

Wikipedia og endda memes.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And with their language once again intact,

Med deres sprog intakt igen,

the people of Cornwall have secured recognition

har Cornwallbefolkningen sikret sig anerkendelse

as a Celtic nation alongside Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

som en keltisk nation sammen med Irland, Skotland og Wales.

They stared down centuries of forced assimilation

De modstod århundreder af tvangsassimilation

and said, "We're not a county in England.

og sagde: "Vi er ikke et grevskab i England.

We're a people in our own right.

Vi er et selvstændigt folk.

And we're still here."

Og vi er her stadig."

And they're not the only ones.

Og de er ikke de eneste.

The Tunica-Biloxi tribe of Louisiana is reviving their ancestral language.

Tunica-Biloxi stammen i Louisiana er i gang med at genoplive sit sprog.

(Video) My name is Teyanna.

(Video) (Tunica) Jeg hedder Teyanna.

My friends, they call me "Quiet Storm."

Mine venner kalder mig "Stille Storm".

It started in the 1980s,

Det startede i 1980'erne,

when Donna Pierite and her family

da Donna Pierite og hendes familie

started taking trips to Baton Rouge and New Orleans

begyndte at tage ture til Baton Rouge og New Orleans

to photocopy old dictionaries stored away in university archives.

for at fotokopiere gamle dagbøger der var gemt væk i universitetsarkiver.

The goal was to study Tunica

Målet var at studere Tunica

and teach it to the children and share it with the community.

og lære børnene det og dele det med sit fællesskab.

Today, they're leading a Tunica renaissance.

I dag fører de Tunica ind i en renæssance.

Since 2014, there are nearly 100 speakers in language immersion classes,

Siden 2014 er der næsten 100 deltagere til sprogkurser

and according to a 2017 census,

og ifølge en folketælling fra 2017,

32 new fluent speakers,

er der 32 der taler sproget flydende.

some of whom, like Donna's daughter Elisabeth,

Nogle af dem, som Donnas datter, Elisabeth

are teaching Tunica to their children.

lærer deres børn Tunica.

These new speakers are creating content,

Disse nye talere skaber indhold,

Facebook videos and also memes.

Facebookvideoer og memes.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

(Laughter)

(Latter)

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And the more they publish,

Jo mere de publicererer,

the more they inspire other Tunica people to get involved.

jo mere inspirerer de andre Tunica folk til at involvere sig.

Recently, a tribal member living in Texas wrote Elisabeth on Facebook,

Et medlem af stammen, der bor i Texas, skrev til Elisabeth på Facebook

asking how to say "bless these lands."

og spurgte, hvordan man siger "velsign disse lande."

It was for a yard sign,

Det var til et haveskilt,

so she could show her neighbors that her culture is alive

så hun kunne vise sine naboer, at hendes kultur er i live

and thriving today.

og trives i dag.

Now, Hebrew, Cornish and Tunica

Hebraisk, kornisk og tunica er blot tre eksempler

are just three examples from a groundswell of language activism on every continent.

fra en hel opblussen af sprogaktivisme i alle verdensdele.

And whether they're Jèrriais speakers from the Channel Isles,

Om det er Jèrriaistalende fra Kanaløerne,

or Kenyan sign language speakers from Nairobi,

eller kenyansk tegnsprogsbrugere fra Nairobi,

all communities working to preserve or reclaim a language

har alle grupper, der arbejder på at bevare eller genoplive et sprog,

have one thing in common: media,

én ting tilfælles: medier,

so their language can be shared and taught.

så deres sprog kan deles og undervises i.

And as the internet grows,

Og i takt med at internettet vokser,

expanding media access and creation,

og tilgængeligheden, skabelsen af medier øges,

preserving and reclaiming ancestral languages

bliver bevarelsen og genoplivelsen af sprog

is now more possible than ever.

mere realisabel end nogensinde før.

So what are your ancestral languages?

Så hvad er jeres forfædres sprog?

Mine are Hebrew, Yiddish, Hungarian and Scottish Gaelic,

Mines er hebraisk, jiddisch, ungarsk og skotsk gælisk,

even though I was raised in English.

selvom jeg voksede op med engelsk.

And luckily for me, each of these languages is available online.

Og heldigvis var hver af disse sprog tilgængelig online.

Hebrew in particular -- it came installed on my iPhone,

Især hebraisk - det var præinstalleret på min mobil,

it's supported by Google Translate,

det er støttet af Google Oversæt

it even has autocorrect.

og det har endda autokorrektur.

And while your language may not be as widely supported,

Og selvom dit sprog måske ikke er understøttet lige så bredt,

I encourage you to investigate,

prøv at undersøge det,

because chances are, someone, somewhere, has started getting it online.

fordi chancerne er, at nogen derude er allerede i gang med at få det online.

Reclaiming your language and embracing your culture

Det at genoplive sit sprog og fejre sin kultur

is a powerful way to be yourself in the age of globalization,

er en magtfuld måde at være sig selv i en globaliseret verden,

because as I recently learned to say in Hebrew,

fordi, som jeg for nylig har lært at sige på hebraisk,

"'nḥnw 'dyyn k'n" --

"'nḥnw 'dyyn k'n" -

we're still here.

vi er her stadig.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)