How to save a language from extinction | Daniel Bögre Udell

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: SF Huang

Languages don't just die naturally.

語言並不會自然死亡。

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

人們拋棄自己的母語， 是出於被迫。

Often, the pressure is political.

通常，是受到政治壓力。

In 1892,

1892 年，

the US Army general Richard Henry Pratt

美國陸軍將軍理查德‧亨利‧普拉特

argued that killing indigenous cultures

主張消滅原住民文化

was the only alternative to killing indigenous people.

是取代屠殺原住民的唯一方案。

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

他說：「消滅印第安文化， 但不動刀殺人。」

And until 1978, the government did just that,

在 1978 年前， 政府就是這麼做的，

removing indigenous children from their families

將原住民孩童與他們的家人分離，

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

強迫他們進入寄宿學校， 學校還會給他們英文名字，

and punished for speaking their languages.

他們說母語就會被懲罰。

Assimilation was a complement to genocide.

以同化之名，行種族減絕之實。

Seven thousand languages are alive today,

現今還有七千種語言存在，

but few are recognized by their own governments

但很少被它們自己的政府承認 或在網路上獲得支持。

or supported online.

So for people from the vast majority of cultures,

所以，對絕大多數文化的人們來說，

globalization remains profoundly alienating.

全球化仍然使其越來越疏離。

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

它意味著放棄你的語言 而去使用別人的語言。

And if nothing changes,

如果繼續這樣下去，有三千種語言

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

會在八十年內消失。

But things are changing.

但改變在發生。

Around the world,

全世界各地

people are reviving ancestral languages

都有人在復興祖先的語言

and rebuilding their cultures.

並重建他們的文化。

As far as we know,

據我們所知，

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

語言復興始於 反猶太主義高漲的十九世紀，

Jewish communities looked to their ancestral language, Hebrew,

猶太族群用他們祖先的希伯來語，

as a means of cultural revival.

作為文化復興的手段。

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

雖然已經超過一千年 沒有人使用希伯來語，

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

它仍然完整地保存在 猶太教和哲學的書籍中。

So Jewish activists studied and taught it to their children,

所以，猶太活動家研究它、 傳授給他們的孩子，

raising the first native speakers in nearly 100 generations.

培育出百代以來 第一批說希伯來母語的人。

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

現今，它是五百萬猶太人的母語。

And at least for me,

至少對我這個散居海外、

an assimilated English-speaking member of the Jewish diaspora,

被同化說英文的猶太人而言，

a pillar of cultural sovereignty.

希伯來語就是文化主權的支柱。

Two thousand years later,

兩千年後，

we're still here.

我們還在這裡。

Now, until recently,

一直到最近，

Hebrew's reawakening was an anomaly.

希伯來語的再度興起是很反常的。

Few languages are as well preserved as ours was,

很少語言像我們的一樣 保存得這麼好，

and the creation of Israel,

而以色列的建國，

the first Jewish state in over 1,000 years,

是一千年來的第一個猶太國家，

provided a space for Hebrew's daily use.

使希伯來語能使用在每天日常生活上。

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

換言之，大部分的文化連機會也沒有。

(Video) Good evening, I'm Elizabeth

（影片）晚安，我是伊麗莎白，

and I live in Cornwall.

我住在康瓦耳。

That was Cornish,

那是康瓦耳語， 康瓦耳祖先的語言，

the ancestral language of Cornwall,

which today is technically a county in southern England.

現今嚴格來說， 康瓦耳是英國南方的一個郡。

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

二十世紀時，康瓦耳活動家 為了他們的文化而戰。

The language had been dormant for over 100 years,

這個語言已超過一百年沒使用，

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

但他們藉由古老的書籍 和戲劇來教孩子這個語言。

However, this new generation of Cornish speakers

然而，這個說康瓦耳語的新世代

was scattered across Cornwall

散佈在康瓦耳各地，

and unable to use the language freely.

無法自由地使用這個語言。

By the 1990s, Cornish had reawakened,

到九〇年代，康瓦耳語雖復興了，

but it wasn't thriving.

但它並沒有就此茁壯。

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

說康瓦耳語的人於 2000 年代 初期在網路上找到彼此，

and leveraged digital spaces to speak on a daily basis.

發揮了數位空間的效用， 讓他們天天都能說康瓦耳語。

From there, they organized weekly or monthly events

自此之後，他們舉辦每週或月的活動，

where they could gather and speak in public.

讓他們能在公眾場合 聚會並說著康瓦耳語。

Today, some schools teach Cornish.

現今，有些學校會教康瓦耳語。

There are Cornish language signs,

有康瓦耳語的招牌、

ice-cream commercials,

冰淇淋廣告、

Wikipedia, and even memes.

維基百科，甚至迷因 （網路爆紅圖／影片）。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And with their language once again intact,

隨著他們的語言再次完整，

the people of Cornwall have secured recognition

康瓦耳人也被認可為

as a Celtic nation alongside Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

等同愛爾蘭、蘇格蘭、 威爾斯的凱爾特民族。

They stared down centuries of forced assimilation

他們看著數世紀以來的強迫同化，

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

說道：「我們不是英國的一個郡。

We're a people in our own right.

我們是一個獨立的民族。

And we're still here."

我們還在這裡。」

And they're not the only ones.

他們並不是唯一。

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

路易斯安那州的圖尼卡比洛克西部落 也在復興他們祖先的語言。

(Video) My name is Teyanna.

（影片）我是提雅娜。

My friends, they call me "Quiet Storm."

我的朋友叫我「安靜的風暴」。

It started in the 1980s,

從八〇年代開始，

when Donna Pierite and her family

那時唐娜‧皮亞瑞特和家人

started taking trips to Baton Rouge and New Orleans

開始前往巴頓魯治及紐奧良，

to photocopy old dictionaries stored away in university archives.

去影印存放在大學檔案室中的老字典。

The goal was to study Tunica

目標是要研究圖尼卡語，

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

將其傳授給孩子並與整個社區分享。

Today, they're leading a Tunica renaissance.

現今，他們引領著圖尼卡語的復興。

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

2014 年起，在沉浸式語言課上 有近一百個說圖尼卡語的人，

and according to a 2017 census,

根據 2017 年的調查，

32 new fluent speakers,

新增了 32 名說得很流利的人，

some of whom, like Donna's daughter Elisabeth,

當中有幾位，就像 唐娜的女兒伊麗莎白，

are teaching Tunica to their children.

會教他們的孩子圖尼卡語。

These new speakers are creating content,

這些新的母語者也在創建內容、

Facebook videos and also memes.

臉書影片以及網路迷因。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And the more they publish,

他們發佈得越多，就越能 鼓舞其他圖尼卡人參與。

the more they inspire other Tunica people to get involved.

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

最近，住在德州的一位部落成員 透過臉書聯絡伊麗莎白，

asking how to say "bless these lands."

問她如何說「祝福這些土地」。

It was for a yard sign,

她要做一個庭院標誌，

so she could show her neighbors that her culture is alive

讓她的鄰居知道她的文化

至今仍然存在且茁壯發展。

and thriving today.

Now, Hebrew, Cornish and Tunica

希伯來語、康瓦耳語、 圖尼卡語只是三個例子，

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

各大洲還有非常多的語言活動主義。

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

不論是海峽群島上說澤西語的人，

or Kenyan sign language speakers from Nairobi,

或者奈洛比中使用肯亞手語的人，

all communities working to preserve or reclaim a language

在努力保存或恢復其語言的所有族群

have one thing in common: media,

都有一個共通點：媒體，

so their language can be shared and taught.

讓他們的語言能被分享、傳授。

And as the internet grows,

隨著網路發展，

expanding media access and creation,

擴大了媒體的可得性及創造力，

preserving and reclaiming ancestral languages

因此，現在比以往更有機會

is now more possible than ever.

保存和恢復祖先語言。

So what are your ancestral languages?

所以，你祖先的語言是什麼？

Mine are Hebrew, Yiddish, Hungarian and Scottish Gaelic,

我的是希伯來語、意第緒語、 匈牙利語、蘇格蘭蓋爾語，

even though I was raised in English.

雖然我成長過程學的是英語。

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

我很幸運，因為在網路上 都能找到這些語言。

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

特別是希伯來語—— 我的 iPhone 本身就有內建，

it's supported by Google Translate,

Google 翻譯也有支援，

it even has autocorrect.

甚至還有自動修正功能。

And while your language may not be as widely supported,

你的語言可能沒有這麼多支援，

I encourage you to investigate,

但我鼓勵你去查查看， 因為有可能，

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

某個地方的某個人 已經開始將它放上網路了。

Reclaiming your language and embracing your culture

復興你的語言，

擁抱你的文化，

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

是在全球化的時代 保持真我的強有力方法，

because as I recently learned to say in Hebrew,

因為，用我最近 學會的希伯來語來說：

"'nḥnw 'dyyn k'n" --

「'nḥnw 'dyyn k'n」——

we're still here.

我們還存在著。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）