Christian Stiers Human Geography Linguists Film Analysis 1. Why do linguists study languages, and what is lost when a language dies? Figure out possible ways the human mind can make sense of the world around it. Some unique way of seeing the world could be lost. 2. What areas do Gregory and David choose when they are looking for languages to research? Areas most in need and areas with history of colonization. India, Bolivia, and Siberia are some examples. 3. Who typically stops speaking the indigenous language, and why do you think that is? Often children, because they integrate into a more popular language. They do this for an economic advantage. 4. What has been the role of boarding schools on the …show more content…

With over 7,000 languages in the world today, the way one area survives or deals commerce can vastly differ from the next. Different regions form dialects, a regional or local variant of the language. In addition, slang is often used to further individualize these regions. However, even though there are places with a large amount of speakers with the same language, there are also language hotspots. Within these hotspots are the most endangered, misunderstood, or unique languages. For example, Kallawya is an endangered and unique language. A whole sentence in English is simply one verb in their language. There is also significance to culture because they have knowledge of 10,000 species of plants with medicinal advantages. Because language is so important to culture, there are many steps being taken to preserve them. There are many steps that people, like Gregory and David, are taking to preserve languages. For instance, the act of elicitation is the process of sharing and getting a comprehensive description of a language. In the film, the two researchers used this process for a particular language of interest called Sora. They were able to learn the customs and culture of the indigenous group. Also there are linguistic refuge areas which are areas protected by isolation or inhospitable environmental conditions in which a language or dialect has survived. Even