"What we now have is a new
medium – computer-mediated
communication – which is undeniably
a revolution technologically and
socially… But for languages – and
especially for minority and
endangered languages – its effect is
also nothing short of revolutionary.
The internet began as an exclusively English-
language medium, for obvious reasons to do with its
point of origin in the USA; but by the mid-1990s it
had already attracted a significant other-language
use. The statistic most often cited at that time was
that up to 20% of the internet was in languages
other than English. By 2000 this figure had risen to
30%, and some service providers were already
anticipating an increase to 50% by the middle of the
decade. Much of this increase was the result of the
larger languages coming increasingly online, but the
opportunity the net provides for minority and
endangered languages had also not gone unnoticed.
The number of languages present on the internet
now must be in the region of 1,500. Many of these
languages have only a few sites, but the more
resourceful (and resources-available) minority
languages are represented by thousands of sites.
Moreover, the arrival of chatroom technology has
meant the emergence of virtual speech communities,
in which people who had previously found it
impossible to use a language because separated by
distance can now join a chat-group in that language,
and experience the immediate benefits that routine
interaction can bring. The convenience, economy and
reach of the medium makes it a godsend to language
communities which previously would have found the
public expression of their language (through
broadcasting or the press) beyond their resources. The
medium is one which intrinsically privileges diversity,
because of its lack of centralized ownership."
Extract from David Crystal's Languages and the
Internet, published by CUP (2nd edition; 2006).
thelinguist.uberflip.com
DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018 The Linguist 25
FEATURES
everything from prehistoric times to clans, legends
and heraldry; thescottishdiaspora.net, which offers
blogs and a digital museum; irelandroots.com, which
covers the diaspora in general, plus names, Irish
citizenship, researching family history and so on. Still
others are more overtly political, such as Diaspora Voice
(www.irishinbritain.org), which campaigns for the global
recognition of Irish.
The Welsh North American Association
(www.nafow.org) has affiliated societies throughout the
former British Empire, while there is a great deal of
information about the Welsh in Patagonia, via portals
such as www.glaniad.com and www.andesceltig.com.
Basque is particularly well provided for: the North
American Basque Organisation (www.nabasque.org)
is an umbrella society listing many local members, as
well as specialist societies for music, dance, traditional
sports and many other activities. Bretons du Monde
(www.bretonsdumonde-obe.bzh) lists 15 associations in
Europe, North America and Asia.
Language learning platforms
There are also a number of sites specifically devoted
to promoting and teaching the minority languages of
the diaspora. These include the American Scottish Gaelic
Society (www.acgamerica.org); the Sydney Irish Language
School (www.irishlanguageschoolsydney.org.au); the
Canadian www.gaeilge.ca (in Irish and English); and
American gaelicusa.org. For Breton, the International
Committee for the Defense of the Breton Language
(www.breizh.net/icdbl/saozg/nominoe.htm) covers a
variety of linguistic topics.
Some are essentially political, such as the Celtic League
(www.celticleague.net/tag/celtic-diaspora). A Google
search using appropriate keywords will identify many
more sites relating to the languages, showing just how
important and widespread the use of the internet is in the
promotion of these minority languages and cultures.
INTERNET
REVOLUTION
David Crystal's insights on the internet and
minority languages are still valuable today
IMAGES: NORBERTO JONES, 'D ANZAS
TIPICAS
GALESAS', 17/11/13 VIA FLICKR (CC BY-NC-ND)
KEN
LUND
9/6/07
VIA
FLICKR
(CC
BY-SA
2.0)
