The
first response includes factors that are of great importance, but I would like to add a few more
and comment on nationalism, too.
I think that one reason for the effort to
save these almost lost languages is, to some degree, the result of the same sort of
understanding we are coming to about endangered species. Theis not precise, but I think it is
worthy of mention. We now know that when a species of fauna or flora is lost, an entire
ecosystem is disrupted and harmed, something that is bad not only for the plant and animal
kingdom, but for us, too, since we are part of the ecosystem, even though we do not like to
think of ourselves that way. There are unintended consequences that are never good. With that
understanding, the same sort of thinking is being applied to languages. Each is a part of the
history and system of languages, and when we lose one, there are bound to be consequences that
affect us somehow, even if we do not know what they all will be. So, it...
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