Linguists gathered Thursday 

for the International Institute 
Conference 
to 
discuss 
the 

endangerment and revitalization 
of Indigenous languages. The day-
long conference worked to build 
a stronger relationship between 
the University of Michigan and 
the United Nations Permanent 
Forum on Indigenous Issues by 
reporting policy recommendation 
discussions from the conference to 
the forum.

Panelists 
discussed 
the 

relationship between technology 
and 
the 
endangerment 
of 

Indigenous languages and the 
effects of colonial legacies on 

languages, focusing on Indigenous 
languages worldwide. Experts 
in the Indigenous languages of 
China, Siberia, Mexico, India and 
the Middle East discussed their 
work, their concerns and potential 
solutions for the revitalization 
of some languages and how to 
maintain the strength of others.

Panelists debated the impact 

of technology on how languages 
survive 
and 
evolve. 
Panelist 

G.N. Devy, an Indian linguist, 
emphasized the way technology 
inhibits communication and alters 
the language and culture of a 
group.

“Having technology might lead 

to less communication,” Devy said. 
“(Languages) have defined the 
character of life of those people 
and the moment you take away 

that life the definition changes, 
(Indigenous 
peoples) 
become 

different and somebody else.”

Devy said he sees young 

children standing next to each 
other, 
texting 
rather 
than 

speaking to one another. This 
concerns him because he worries 
this technology puts languages in 
danger.

“I’m not against technology,” 

Devy said. “But voice is language 
and a lot of technology is silencing 
voice.”

In order to maintain the 

strength of Indigenous languages 
and ensure their survival, Devy 
proposed 
imposing 
monetary 

punishments on countries to 
encourage governments to work 
to maintain Indigenous languages. 
2019 was designated as the “Year 

of Indigenous Languages” 
by the United Nations, and 
Devy proposed using this 
year to begin measuring the 
presence of languages in 
countries.

With 7,000 languages 

in the world, Devy said 
he 
understands 
the 

importance of language to 
a community. He suggested 
charging countries that lose 
a language over 10 years.

“Observing the next year 

as ‘Year of the Indigenous 
Languages,’ if (a country) 
loses any language in the 
next 10 years, as recorded in 
(the country’s) census, (the 
country) has to pay,” Devy 
said.

Devy’s 
concern 

contrasted with panelist 
Colleen Fitzgerald, program 
director for Documenting 
Endangered 
Languages 

at the National Science 
Foundation. 
Fitzgerald 

sees technology as a way 
of benefitting relationships 
and communication.

Fitzgerald discussed the 

influence 
of 
Indigenous 

languages in the technological 
world. Social media platforms 
including Facebook, Instagram, 
Twitter 
and 
Whatsapp 
have 

worked to incorporate Indigenous 
languages 
into 
their 
digital 

platforms. She said Cherokee 
Nation has worked with Microsoft 
and Google to have a team of 
translators to incorporate the 
Indigenous community.

“Technology can be a vehicle,” 

Fitzgerald said. “There is a large 
digital divide in the U.S. — not 
to mention the rest of the world. 
When I talk with language 
programs that are trying to decide 
what to do next, we think about 
what you have at your realistic 
disposal.”

Fitzgerald 
also 
said 
video 

conferencing and other forms 
of technology can be helpful in 
maintaining languages.

In reference to Devy’s proposal 

to create governmental language 
policies, Fitzgerald reflected on 
the roots of language and how 
there are natural incentives and 
benefits to learning languages. She 
referenced the role language plays 
in the creation of community.

“When a community decides 

to prioritize a language to keep 
it going, it’s worth having some 
thought to incentives,” Fitzgerald 
said. “A language policy can do 
some things, but when you talk 
about communities that don’t 
have the same kinds of resources 
… there are ways that … languages 
are integrated.”

Rackham 
student 
Shalmali 

Jadhav found the correlation 
between 
technology 
and 

language survival discussed to be 
particularly concerning.

“I am worried if we depend on 

Facebook and Google to preserve 
languages (in countries) where 
capitalism is responsible (for 
language loss, we give) some 
languages a mode of survival more 
than others, which is the problem 
in the first place,” Jadhav said.

2 — Friday, October 26, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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state funding went down, I recognized that this was becoming 
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education. I felt strongly that we needed to raise money to endow tuition 
if you will ... We need to do more to make education affordable and 
accessible, and that’s why I’m running again.”

Regent Andrea Fischer Newman, running for re-election to the Board of Regents this November 

This Friday, we talked to Maya Goldman about “Broken Record,” 
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this week. The story uncovers a SMTD student’s experiences with 
filing a Title IX complaint with the University.

“We started reporting on it the first week of classes so almost two 
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sources on such a sensitive topic. That’s really been a valuable skill 
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Linguists discuss relationship of tech 
and languages in a changing world

Panelists convene as part of International Institute conference on indigenous languages

REMY FARKAS
Daily Staff Reporter

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