Consequences of Language Death on Nationality

There are over 6000 languages spoken in the world today. These languages can be used to identify each country and the cultural groups within it. While there are many factors that contribute to a nation’s identity, their language is one of the most distinguishable and unique. Languages are culturally specific which gives each nation their own recognizable characteristics as well as a sense of identity. It is not uncommon, however, for a national language to fade due to factors like colonialism or modernization that then results in the death of the language. When a language that was once native to an area is no longer spoken by a majority of speakers there, it becomes at risk for being completely forgotten and abandoned. Though many cultures that lose a first language do not intentionally stop practicing or speaking it, the death of a language results from loss of first or primary language speakers. The importance of language in creating and maintaining a national and cultural identity can be seen by examining speech communities that are in danger of losing or have lost their common language