Multilingualism and minority language use in the digital sphere: The digital use of language as a new domain of language use (original) (raw)
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Abstract Language endangerment and the need for language revitalization efforts have been at the forefront of linguistic thinking and action for over two decades now. In the same period of time, digital technology and new ways of language use mediated by it (through email, the internet and social media etc.) have become predominant. This paper discusses how language endangerment, language revitalization, and digital language use intersect, and what kind of responsibilities this leaves for the linguistic community concerned with bilingual, minority, and endangered language use in today’s world. It is argued that linguists can assist endangered language communities to preserve their languages, among other ways, by focusing on language use in the digital domain (e.g. in social media): by aiding communities in creating and maintaining a digital presence and in creating internet content, as well as, more broadly, by investigating language use in the endangered language in the digital domain, since this domain has become of primary importance in recent years, so understanding how endangered languages are used in it can offer crucial insight also into how they can be further supported. Keywords: endangered languages, minority languages, language revitalization, digital domain, digital natives