A language is like a big family of words and phrases that people use to talk every day. When no one in the whole family speaks it anymore, the language becomes lost forever. This usually happens when all the people who know the language pass away or forget how to speak it.
Sometimes, just one generation can cause this. If kids stop learning their parents' language and only learn a new one, the old language might disappear completely in a few years.
Examples
- A grandmother tells her grandchild stories in her native tongue, but when the child grows up, no one else speaks that language anymore.
- A group of friends all switch to learning a new language together and stop using their old one at home.
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See also
- Why Do We Say 'Bless You' When You Sneeze?
- What Is the Purpose of a Clock Tower?
- Why Do We Tell Stories?
- Why Do We Have Different Kinds of Music?
- Why Do We Have So Many Different Kinds of Languages?
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Categories: Culture · language death,linguistics,cultural loss