RARE TONGUES

Speaking up for vanishing languages.

Once a language is lost, important knowledge disappears with it. “Every language is unique and has something important to tell us about the world we live in,” writes Scottish linguist Lorna Gibb. Gibb’s love of her subject has led her on “a linguistic odyssey” to discover what vanishing languages can reveal about their speakers and the land in which they’re spoken. The book provides a whirlwind tour, starting with the outsized influence of Latin, a language of empire, to those of Australia, India, Finland, and Namibia, as well as other parts of the world where languages are extinct, endangered, or in decline. Gibb sheds light on the singular attributes of many of these rare languages, from the Native American sign language that enabled diverse tribes to trade and communicate, to Khoikhoi and N|uu, two of South Africa’s first languages, nearly erased by colonizers. She also focuses on ecologically significant languages such as Ainu, which, unlike Japanese, includes many original place names and words for parts of plants that are useful or medicinal. In doing so, Gibb highlights each language’s valuable properties and perspectives. Linguistic homogeneity has long been a goal of authoritarian regimes that seek control, resulting in trauma for people who were punished for speaking, or were forced to abandon, their mother tongues. The book underscores the connection between “language, identity, and cultural survival.” Crucially, Gibb highlights success stories, such as Hawaiian and British Columbia’s Nuxálk; a resurgence of interest has meant a revival of these once-endangered languages.

A thought-provoking tour of the diversity within the world’s languages—and a strong case for their preservation.