Young people's dyirbal : an example of language death from Australia

Abstract

The extinction of language is a common phenomenon. The demise of such languages as Sumerian, Egyptian and Etruscan in the course of history illustrate this. In more recent times, numerous examples have been attested of languages going out of use as a result of vast expansion of a relatively few languages of enormous political and cultural potency like English, Russian, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Indeed, the loss of American and Australian Aboriginal languages well exemplifies the effect of a technologically advanced society impinging upon an indigenous community. Show more