Language – audibility – marginalisation: On dying tongues and creative participation

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the problems of linguistic revitalisation and the dynamics leading to language death. Among such factors as colonial oppression and policies of state centralisation, a special attention is paid to the causes of language relinquishment and the situations in which minor languages are abandoned in favour of major ones. The author muses on the lure of larger, more attractive speech communities and the importance of language choice in building global solidarity and networks of exchange of ideas. The main question asked is how to foster the participation and visibility of creators and intellectuals representing minor ethnolinguistic communities, making the diversity of outlooks and cognitive modalities associated with minor languages available and enriching for global majorities.