How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words by Sophia Smith Galer
Many thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the
advanced copy of How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words by Sophia Smith Galer. While the book’s title reference the
precarious nature of many languages throughout the world, Smith Galer’s work
focuses more on the efforts to save and reclaim these languages, and the many
individuals and grassroots organizations working to recruit speakers, teach and
raise awareness of these languages, and to promote the language in areas where
it remains a minority to other dominant languages. A few years ago, I read a
great book by Ross Perlin titled Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York. Perlin, who is a linguist from NY, chronicled
his efforts to work with others to preserve the speakers and written language
of many of the world’s most endangered languages in NYC. Sophia Smith Galer,
who is a multi-lingual journalist, details a similar effort to explore and chronicle
the efforts to save endangered languages, or those she deems as threatened with
linguicide, which often results from the policies and efforts of a state toward
a minority language. Although Perlin’s efforts explore the many reasons why NYC
is home to and in some ways furthers the endangerment of these minority
languages, Smith Galer takes readers on journeys throughout the world to learn
more about the places, policies, and history that have all worked to silence
many of these indigenous languages and dialects, which makes How to Kill a Language
not only a fascinating study of the history and cultures of these languages and
their speakers, but also something of a travel book that often details the
geographic features and regions that also help to shape and sometimes isolate many
of these languages, making them distinct from dominant languages like English,
Arabic, French, or Spanish.
Smith Galer starts her exploration of these languages and
regions close to home, which is London. It may seem odd to start a story about linguicide
where English is the dominant language and where many of the colonial
experiments to eradicate native languages in far-away and close to home colonies
originated, but her personal connection to an endangered language starts with
her grandmother, or her Nonna, who spoke dialët, a language she describes as an
“angry French, with some strong nasal twangs and words that end abruptly, not
like Italian with its ever-flowing vowel sounds.” Geographically and
nationally, Nonna was from Italy but from a mountainous region that was
isolated from the more dominant Florentine Italian that became the standard for
spoken Italian in the 19th century as Italy began to unify. The differences
between dialët and Italian, as well as her Nonna’s age and decreasing health
prompted her to question how many dialët speakers were left, and how she could
work to preserve the language.
Smith Galer’s questions and interest in preserving dialët
then prompted her to further study Italian, to learn how the various regions,
which all have distinct pronunciations and some entirely distinct languages
like dialët, eventually settled on the Florentine Tuscan dialect as the
standard. This first chapter is a fascinating framework to explore how
countries and populations with power can promote their chosen language or
dialect as the standard, which can bring about unity in communication,
commerce, and education, but it can also push language minorities to the fringes
of society, especially when a sense of privilege, politics, or promotion is
assigned to the dominant language. As Smith Galer’s observations with other
languages demonstrate, frequently younger generations educated in the dominant
language will be less likely to speak their native language and may even view the
language with a sense of shame or embarrassment. These languages then either
remain around smaller, isolated regions or are only spoken at home or in secret
in some cases when there are consequences to speaking or writing in the language
(like the chapters on Karuk and Kurdish explore). Each subsequent chapter
explores how different policies, histories, events, and movement have impacted
specific languages. I loved learning about the different cultures and languages
throughout the book. Each chapter serves as a kind of case study for how countries
and historical events influence the linguicide- the decline of these indigenous
languages. However, the Smith Galer doesn’t necessarily dwell on the demise of
these languages, but also chronicles individuals, groups, and organizations who
are working to keep the language alive, whether it is through online community
and advocacy, translations, subversion and resistance, or education and work
with younger generations of speakers. There are so many incredible stories
found throughout this book that complement the well-researched historical,
political, and social elements that influenced how these languages were often
relegated to lesser spaces in these nations. Furthermore, Smith Galer
effectively describes linguistic elements of the language, making familiar
references where possible or clearly defining the spoken, written, and
communicative aspects of these languages for non-technical or linguistic oriented
audiences. The chapters focus on Śher
t, which I’m struggling to
write accurately in word, an Arabian language spoken in regions in Oman; Ukrainian
and its resistance to the Russianization of its language in Ukraine; Ladino, a
fascinating Spanish derived language spoken by Sephardic Jews who were expelled
from Spain after the Reconquista and ended up in Greece and Turkey, adapting
the elements of these languages and some others; Karuk, an indigenous Californians
from the Klamath area. While all of the stories featured upsetting stories of
colonialism and conquest that led to the loss of language, Smith Galer details
how many of the tribal Karuk were sent to notorious Indian schools in the 19th
and early 20th centuries where speaking their native languages was
often physically punished, creating a sense of fear and shame among the
speakers that nearly wiped out the language and traditions of the Karuk people.
Yet stories like the Karuk also feature dedicated community members like Julian
Lang who helped to start a Master-Apprentice language program that created
time, space, and lessons for older and younger speakers to meet in order to continue
passing on the language to the next generations. It’s a fascinating look into
the kind of grassroots efforts that are maintaining these languages for future
generations, but as Smith Galer notes in her conclusion, the work of these dedicated
individuals and groups may not be enough to sustain these languages without
future policies and resources like government funding (the Karuk program
receives funding through California). The book also explores Kurdish and the
efforts of countries like Iran and Turkey to criminalize and punish Kurdish
speakers. I also liked learning about Kichwa, an indigenous language from
Ecuador as well as Peru. This was also a fascinating way to see how community members
work to include language instruction and ensure future generations are speaking
these indigenous languages, even recruiting pregnant mothers and encouraging
them to speak to their unborn children. Interestingly, there’s a chapter on the
kind of revival that Hebrew experienced with zionism, and how the demand for
Hebrew only speaking in Israel has created further tension with speakers of
other languages. It’s also a fascinating look at how a language that was deemed
for religious purposes only became the lingua franca of a country. The last
chapter was equally fascinating as it detailed Dagbani, a language from Ghana,
a country that has nearly 80 distinct languages, but uses English as the
official language. This chapter was also fascinating to learn more about how a
country with so many different languages can often ignore these indigenous
languages and fail to support them when their focus is on STEM studies or arts
related to languages like French or English. Smith Galer returns to dialët, and visits the
region her Nonna was from to learn more about where and how this language that
shares more qualities with French than Italian originated. This chapter offered
some further insight into how regions and geography can lead to language
development and variations, and how practices like education and policies can
impact the further speaking of these languages.
How to Kill a Language is a fascinating and
insightful book, where readers are able to learn not only about these different
languages but how countries and governments can impose policies, education, and
other measures that can bring about the demise of languages. Nevertheless, the
book also offers hope in detailing the efforts of groups and individuals who
are working to maintain and transmit these languages to future generations. If
you enjoy learning about different cultures, languages, histories, or regions
of the world, this book will be a great read. Recommended!
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