What is lost when a language dies?
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Anders Søgaard
Anders Søgaard is a Professor of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning and runs the Center for Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Copenhagen. He has published in top venues across scientific disciplines and won several prestigious grants and best paper awards – including an ERC Starting Grant, a Google Focused Research Award, and a Carlsberg Semper Ardens Advance.
Abstract
Nowak argues that the problem with language loss is not linguists’ loss of data or that the loss of a language is often a result of discrimination against its speakers. Instead, the real problem is its speakers’ loss of illocutionary force. I argue that Nowak’s argument rests on two premises that are both empirically unjustified: that cultural knowledge is a prerequisite for illocutionary force, and that language is a prerequisite for illocutionary force. Languages are among the most fascinating accomplishments of mankind, surpassing Machu Picchu and the Great Wall of China in the eyes of many. I think language loss is comparable to loss of species. The intuition that the death of a language is a significant event, reflects that: Something that evolved gradually over hundreds of years, passed on through hundreds of generations and thousands of individual speakers, is irreversibly gone, once and for all. The illocutionary force of its individual speakers is not.
About the author
Anders Søgaard is a Professor of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning and runs the Center for Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Copenhagen. He has published in top venues across scientific disciplines and won several prestigious grants and best paper awards – including an ERC Starting Grant, a Google Focused Research Award, and a Carlsberg Semper Ardens Advance.
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Competing interests: The author did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. The author has no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Presuppositions cross-linguistically: A comparison of soft and hard triggers in Chinese and German
- Negotiating epistemic asymmetries during crisis management exercises: Pre-emptive and corrective practices
- Impoliteness in polylogal intercultural communication among Asian EFL learners
- What is lost when a language dies?
- Book Reviews
- Daniel N. Silva and Jacob L. Mey: The Pragmatics of Adaptability
- Grace Zhang and Vahid Parvaresh: Elastic Language in Persuasion and Comforting: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Presuppositions cross-linguistically: A comparison of soft and hard triggers in Chinese and German
- Negotiating epistemic asymmetries during crisis management exercises: Pre-emptive and corrective practices
- Impoliteness in polylogal intercultural communication among Asian EFL learners
- What is lost when a language dies?
- Book Reviews
- Daniel N. Silva and Jacob L. Mey: The Pragmatics of Adaptability
- Grace Zhang and Vahid Parvaresh: Elastic Language in Persuasion and Comforting: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
