Saving Endangered Languages
CU Boulder linguistics professors Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Rai Farrelly are working to preserve Zapotec, a family of languages that originated in Southern Mexico and Central America.
For most of human history, the survival of specific languages has relied on one generation passing it on to the next — a process that, in many speech communities, unfolds naturally.
But, according to a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, around half of the world’s 7,000 documented languages are currently considered “endangered.”
CU Boulder linguistics professors Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Rai Farrelly hope to slow the decline.
“Languages are tied very closely to peoples’ identities and their cultures,” said Farrelly in an interview with KUNC this spring. “We believe that there is tremendous value in working to maintain and revitalize [languages].”
Currently, Farrelly and Gutiérrez Lorenzo are working to preserve Zapotec, a family of languages that originated in Southern Mexico and Central America, spoken mostly in Oaxaca, Mexico. Gutiérrez Lorenzo collaborates closely with members of the Teotitlán del Valle community who are interested in learning more about the Zapotec language and contributing to preservation efforts.
Since 2011, he has held monthly meetings with community members to discuss linguistic aspects of the language and the practical applications of his research, including the creation of small dictionaries and the documentation of local narratives.
“[Zapotec] is the language I grew up speaking, so I don’t want it to be lost with my generation,” said Gutiérrez Lorenzo. “I don’t want to be the generation that let it go.”
Besides creating real-world solutions, Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Farrelly are determined to raise awareness around the issue, both on campus and around the world. The colleagues developed a global seminar for CU’s Education Abroad based in Teotitlán del Valle, which offers CU Boulder students the opportunity to live in a rural Mexican community while learning and practicing Spanish and Zapotec.
“Maintaining languages in a community serves to strengthen intergenerational connections,” said Farrelly. “It brings together youth and elders through oral traditions that have been celebrated in many of these communities for centuries.”
Photo courtesy Rai Farrelly