The dictionary definition of “linguist” is: “a specialist in linguistics; a person who is skilled in several languages”. However, in the case of some linguists, such as David Harrison and Gregory Anderson, it is so much more. These two traveled around the world to record dying languages. And while they did, they made a movie of their experiences.

     This movie is called The Linguists, and it documents the adventures of Harrison and Anderson as they travel to Siberia, India, and Bolivia. They try to document three different languages while trying to cope with unforeseen problems. It’s not easy to record nearly extinct languages.

     Chulym is spoken in Siberia by only nine people. In Bolivia, merely one hundred speak Kallawaya. Finally, Sora is spoken by around 300,000 people in India. Although Sora’s case is not as extreme as the other two, it is definitely becoming endangered, as it is not being taught to the younger generations. These languages would pass into extinction unknown if it weren’t for the efforts of these two linguists.

     As they try to complete their mission, difficulties quickly arise. In India, while trying to get to the people who speak the Sora language, the region they are in is filled with violence. They are told not to travel after dark and not to stay in small villages. If they want to record the language, they have to take risks. Another problem is actually finding the speakers of the dying languages. In Siberia, they had to go house to house in a tiny village to try to find people who knew Chulym.

     The work that linguists do is incredibly important. These languages can teach us a lot about culture and languages in general. It is important to keep them alive, if we can. As David Harrison says, “We are in a bit of a crisis mode right now. We're seeing the world's linguistic diversity disappearing right before our eyes."

Sources:

Allis, Sam. “'Linguists' explore a world of words”. The Boston Globe, February 26, 2009. Accessed 06 March 2009. <http://ironboundfilms.com/news/bostonglobe022609.html>

Anderson, Gregory and K. David Harrison .“The Liguists”. Accessed 06 March 2009. <http://www.thelinguists.com>

Walker, Ruth. “The Linguists: Raiders of the Lost Tongues.” The Christian Science Monitor. Accessed 06 March 2009. <http://ironboundfilms.com/news/christiansm022709.html>