Language Maintenance and Revival

Abstract

Johann Gottfreid Herder illustrated how problematic language maintenance predictions can be with his prediction in his essay, On the Origin of Languages, stating that Hungarian would briefly disappear from the surface of the earth as if it had never existed. With over 10 million speakers today in Hungary, another 4 million outside the nation, and a growing population (Hungarians in the Outside World 1993), Herder's prediction remains hyperbolic, yet it illustrates how dangerous such predictions about language maintenance can be. Hungarian, as with other languages, has been maintained because of forces operating in the unique history of the nation.

šawaš IlI?i-šawaš wawa -- 'Indian country--Indian language' : A Participant Observation Case Study of Language Planning by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon

“…He uses "Xish" to represent the endangered language and "Yish" to represent the majority language-the language to which people switched. Marshall (1994) points out that this scalar can be "utilized for measuring language maintenance and revival" (p. 22). Table 3 illustrates the eight levels of endangerment.…”