Can Technology Save Dying Languages?
Every two weeks, another language gradually fades away. As society turns to global lingua francas, speaking primarily bridging languages like English, French, Spanish, and Mandarin, the world’s linguistic diversity depletes at an alarming rate that linguists have never experienced before. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that languages are dying; the question is whether or not we can save them, and in line with modern innovation, the world is looking towards restoration through technology.
Some may think the idea of utilizing software and computing systems to preserve something as profound as human language is bewildering. Yet, technology has grown to become one of the most powerful tools in shaping how people communicate with one another. The very same forces influencing global linguistic integration through the creation of the internet, cellphones, and social media are also being inspected under a new light as sources of sustenance and relief for critically endangered languages.
One of the most important roles of technology is its ability to document and record. Historically, keeping track of grammar, vocabulary, alphabet, and oral histories required researchers to venture to isolated areas of the world with a substantial amount of equipment. Now, through the use of cellular apps, researchers are allowed to securely upload and store linguistic data and transcripts in cloud archives. Platforms like the Living Tongues Institute’s Lingua Libre and the Endangered Languages Archive permit speakers to document stories and words within mere seconds. These digital resources don’t just protect languages for researchers; they allow communities to permanently access their linguistic heritage.
Language preservation is one challenge; revitalization is another. Mobile applications, once specifically meant for large global languages, now support dozens of endangered ones. Duolingo’s Navajo and Hawaiian courses have captivated over a million new learners, sparking interest beyond their home communities. Individual creators have progressed even further, however; building games, complete dictionaries, and AI-powered tutors for smaller languages with only around a few hundred speakers. Large AI language models can assist in generating audio readings, grammar notes, example sentences, and even basic conversations for languages that may not be as well-known and are devoid of learning resources. Although they aren't flawless, these devices provide communities with a solid baseline that would have taken years of traditional research to create.
Languages thrive when people actively use them, and in our current society, most of it occurs online. YouTube channels post “Ojibwe word of the day” videos, TikTok creators are curating short videos in which they teach Cherokee and Irish, and even Discord servers host chats entirely in minority languages. This allows youth who were raised hearing grandparents or other family members speak their native language to reconnect with it in modern, more relatable settings. In order to encourage renewal and revitalization, it is essential for younger generations to have access to their language in contemporary spaces.
Even with all these digital advancements, technology isn’t an instant or singular solution. A language can only flourish through collective action, in which a community chooses to speak it daily, whether it be at home, with friends, or with children. AI, applications, and archives cannot replicate the depth of the cultural knowledge and interwoven generational communication rooted within ceremonies, tradition, and storytelling. There are also practicality challenges that come with technological revitalization, including limited funding, lack of internet access, and the possibility of technology being able to capture a language, but simultaneously depriving it of its traditional context.
So, technology can help in the restoration of languages, but it cannot act alone. Through thoughtful usage, technology acts as a bridge: it can remove learning barriers, magnify community action, and construct effective digital spaces for languages to grow and prosper. With linguists, digital developers, and indigenous groups working together, technology no longer poses a threat to cultural diversity; rather, it becomes one of its strongest affiliations.
