Anthro Edit and Revised

While numerous indigenous languages may be dying across the world, there have been many efforts and successes to preserve indigenous and minority languages and cultures.  As XXXX wrote in their work XXXX, "Languages are the pillars of cultures and the vehicles of oral traditions" (CITATION). They are an integral part of people's identities and have an important heritage to preserve. Each language is structurally unique. When a language is lost, the centuries old knowledge, heritage, and history that it represents are lost along with it. I believe the preservation of language is extremely important for reasons I will explore in this paper. My focus will be on the Gullah language, a language with a rich history that deserves to be shared for centuries to come.

Language loss is a phenomenon that occurs throughout the world. The shift from a minority language to a dominant language can happen quite rapidly (Fishman, 1994). About half of world’s languages have fewer than 10,000 speakers (Ethnologue, 2009). Some reports have said that approximately 90% of world’s languages are listed as “endangered” or “threatened” (Citation). One large reason for language change has to do with the interactions that take place between different languages.

Language transformation occurs when minority speakers face a new environment, new political condition, or new resident status where a dominant language is present. A group's native, minority tongue may fail to satisfy the educational, political, and employment needs of their new location. In order to effectively function in society, these people are forced to use another, dominant language that is more prevalent in their changing environment. Linguists call these speakers “circumstantial bilinguals,” or people who were forced to learn a dominant language for survival purposes. As a result of this, the speakers’ first languages are commonly in danger of being replaced by the second language that they were forced to use. For example, in the United States, Latinos and non-English native speakers must use English in order to succeed in school and at work. In order to fully engage in the society, they must gain some sense of proficiency in the dominant language. As a result of their increased use of English, many generations of Latinos and non-English native speakers lose their ability to speak their original, minority tongue.

Cultures are significantly weakened by the loss of their languages. As XXXXX explains in their work XXXXXX, “Language is intrinsic to the expression of culture” (Citation). Language is important to culture because it acts as a mode of communicating customs, beliefs and values. It is the means by which culture is shared, and therefore sustained. Because of the unique way that different languages are able to communicate different ideas and values, language is fundamental to cultural identity. If cultural diversity is valued in today’s world, it is imperative to promote the preservation of as many different minority and indigenous languages as possible. However, this is a daunting task. In 2009, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched an online directory of endangered languages, classifying more than 2,000 at risk of extinction, including Aleut, Navajo, Warnman, and Palikur. The loss of these unique languages would have significant impacts upon the Aleutian, Navajo, Warnman, and Palikur cultures. In addition to the languages on this list others are gradually shrinking. The Gullah language is one such example of a dying language whose loss would profoundly impact its people’s rich culture.

One shrinking language in existence today is Gullah, whose loss would diminish the vibrancy and culture of the South Carolinian African Americans who speak it. The Gullah are a distinctive group of Black Americans. The Gullah are descendants of enslaved Africans who lived in the Lowcountry zone of South Carolina and Georgia. They reside in communities along the Atlantic coastal plain and on the chain of Sea Islands that runs parallel to the coast. Due to their geographical isolation and tight knit community life, the Gullah have been able to preserve more of their African cultural heritage than any other group of Black Americans (CITATION?). The Gullah language, called “Gullah” on the South Carolina Sea Islands and “Geechee” in the city of Charleston and throughout Georgia, is diminishing.

Linguists refer to the Gullah language as an English-based creole language. The Gullah language has even had an impact on English over the past hundred years or so. There have even been a few words from Gullah that have carried over into English including nanny, goober, gumbo, tote and yam. For years, Gullah was thought to be poor or broken English. In the 1900s, Lorenzo Dow Turner, an African-American linguist and scholar who is known as the “Father of Gullah Studies,” studied Gullah on the Sea Islands and in 1949 published a book titled Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect. Through his research, found that the language is composed of English and over 4,000 words from different African languages. Today approximately over 150,000 people speak the language. However this number has continued throughout history and still continues to shrink as English because the lingua franca of the Gullah people.

PARAGRAPH HERE ABOUT UNIQUENESS OF GULLAH CULTURE. How is it distinct from mainstream American beliefs/values/traditions? What are some of the unique beliefs/traditions the Gullah people have?

PARAGRAPH HERE LINKING GULLAH CULTURE AND LANGUAGE How does the Gullah language uniquely describe their culture/beliefs/values? Are there certain words existing in Gullah that do not translate to English? Why? What do these distinctive meanings/phrases/words show about the Gullah people? If their language was lost, how would the Gullah Culture SPECIFICALLY be impacted? No generic arguments, use SPECIFIC reasons that are only applicable to the Gullah.

Preserving indigenous and minority languages is essential to cultural diversity. Just as XXXX explains, “A tongue that is not spoken will shrivel into extinction” (CITATION). Gullah speakers, have been known to face discrimination and “remain virtually incarcerated in an identity that is synonymous with lack: lack of means, lack of opportunity, lack of education”. <<<This does not fit in with the rest of your paper. Despite this, efforts are being taken to preserve their language.

WHEN WRITING CONCLUSIONS:

1) FIRST SENTENCE: RESTATE THESIS/ARGUMENT

2) BRIEFLY SUMMARIZE EACH OF YOUR MAIN POINTS IN A SENTENCE OR SO. (SO ABOUT A SENTENCE SUMMARY PER PARAGRAPH).

3) ADD ON 1 OR 2 FINAL SENTENCES TO WRAP THE WHOLE THING UP.