Languages are disappearing, and the problem is political

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Aug 12, 2026 · 1439 words · By Gerald Roche

Linguistic Human Rights Political Coercion vs. Individual Agency Language Revitalization

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What to know about Linguistic Human Rights

The article reviews Sophie Smith Galler's book 'How to Kill a Language,' which argues that global language loss is driven by political coercion rather than individual choice. The author contrasts Galler's perspective with critics who view language death as a natural or voluntary process, citing research to support the book's claims.

Propaganda risk 40%

Claims checked 21

Techniques found 3

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Sophia Smith Galler’s How to Kill a Language introduces the many methods that are used to coerce people into taking up dominant languages at the expense of their own.

Why it matters

These include massacres, dispossession, forced relocation, criminalisation and public humiliation, as well as more subtle techniques, like economic pressure and political indifference.

Common ground

Each chapter of How to Kill a Language takes a close look at one of these techniques and tells the story of how it has been used against a specific community.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Doubt, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Linguistic Human Rights story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Claire Bowern, one of the article’s authors, points out that this decline has coincided with “the rise of large states and multinational empires”?
How does this story connect Linguistic Human Rights with Political Coercion vs. Individual Agency over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/languages-are-disappearing-and-the-problem-is-politi…

analyticsAnalysis

40%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 90%

Moderate concerns. Notable use of persuasive or loaded language.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 90% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Doubt 80% confidence

Questioning the credibility of a source or claim without providing evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing doubt helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence

Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 21 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 11

check_circle Corroborated 7

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “Claire Bowern, one of the article’s authors, points out that this decline has coincided with “the rise of large states and multinational empires”.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 2: “Smith Galer takes readers to Oman, Greece, Ecuador, the United States and Ghana to visit communities that are working to defend their languages.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this specific claim (the list of countries visited) is missing from the search results; the search results for claim 2 are irrelevant (films and musicians). Only the original article's context (implied by the prompt's claims) contains this detail, and it is not corroborated by the provided evidence snippets.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel, fought as part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflicts. The war began on 7 October 2023, when the Palestinian mi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_war

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Gaza war has sparked protests, demonstrations, and vigils around the world. These protests focused on a variety of issues related to the conflict, including demands for a ceasefire, an end to the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_war_protests

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Many notable human fatalities have resulted from aviation accidents and incidents. Those killed as part of a sporting, political, or musical group who flew together when the accident took place are us…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatalities_from_aviati…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “Nigeria and the Philippines have recently abandoned their commitment to mother-tongue education in order to promote a single language in schools.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “A 1948 article by linguist Morris Swadesh that discussed the “disappearance of languages” referred to the hunting and massacres of Indigenous people, forced removals and slavery.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 5: “this article from linguist Peter Ladefoged, written in 1992 as a response to a position statement from several prominent linguists”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to verify the existence of this specific 1992 article by Peter Ladefoged.

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Claim 6: “In 1953, in one of the earliest pieces of research on language loss, the linguist Uriel Weinreich said the key challenge was to understand “the pressures that determine the choice of language”.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “China is intensifying its efforts to suppress minority languages and cultures.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 8: “The first popular books on language loss, such as Language Death (2000) by linguist David Crystal and Vanishing Voices (2000) by cognitive scientist Daniel Nettle and linguist Suzanne Romaine”

CORROBORATED

Evidence confirms David Crystal wrote 'Language Death' (2000) and Daniel Nettle and Suzanne Romaine wrote 'Vanishing Voices' (2000).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Vanishing Voices is intended to raise public awareness of the language endangerment crisis. In this it joins David Crystal's Language Death (Cambridge University Press, 2000). Both books cover similar…
https://www.academia.edu/76343230/Vanishing_Voices_The_Extin…

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web search NEUTRAL — Smith Galer’s book is also set apart from an earlier generation of writing about language loss by its clear focus on the political dimension of the problem. The first popular books on language loss, s…
https://theconversation.com/languages-are-disappearing-and-t…

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web search NEUTRAL — Nettle, Daniel and Suzanne Romaine. Vanishing Voices . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.Somebody ought to write a book about this. Regrettably, these authors didn't. Instead, they sprinkle intere…
https://fourmilab.ch/documents/reading_list/indices/book_264…

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Claim 9: “New Zealand has just followed suit.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 10: “an article by political commentator Kenan Malik titled Let Them Die, written in response to the book Vanishing Voices.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to verify the existence of an article titled 'Let Them Die' by Kenan Malik.

schedule

Claim 11: “Donald Trump has declared English the official language of the US”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 12: “Review: How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words – Sophie Smith Galler (HarperCollins)”

CORROBORATED

The book title and author are confirmed across multiple sources. While one source mentions Penguin Random House (which is owned by Bertelsmann and often distributes HarperCollins titles or vice versa in different regions), the specific title 'How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words' is consistently cited.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ebbe Rørdam (10 January 1925 – 16 March 1945) was a member of the Danish resistance killed by the German occupying power.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebbe_Rørdam

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Resistance Front (NRF) is an Afghan military organization fighting the Taliban in the republican insurgency in Afghanistan. The group was founded by Ahmad Massoud following the fall of Ka…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Resistance_Front

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Resistance is a 2020 biographical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, inspired by the life of Marcel Marceau. It stars Jesse Eisenberg as Marceau, with Clémence Poésy, Matthias Sch…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_(2020_film)

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 13: “a recent study published in Science argues that global linguistic diversity probably peaked around 3,000 to 1,000 years ago.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 14: “she speaks to experts like Ukraine’s language commissioner Taras Kremin and Kurdish academic Farangis Ghaderi.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm the existence and roles of Taras Kremin (State Language Protection Commissioner of Ukraine) and Dr. Farangis Ghaderi (Kurdish studies researcher), supporting the claim that they are the experts mentioned.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language". Conclusions and Recommendations Monitoring Reports.This was stated by the State Language Protection Co…
https://mova-ombudsman.gov.ua/en/news/taras-kremin-russia-us…

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web search NEUTRAL — Farangis Ghaderi is Research Fellow at the Section of Kurdish Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Jagiellonian University.She is the author of several peer-reviewed articles on Kurdish…
https://www.kurdishstudies.pl/?en_dr-farangis-ghaderi,222

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web search NEUTRAL — Print article. Sophia Smith Galler’s How to Kill a Language introduces the many methods that are used to coerce people into taking up dominant languages at the expense of their own.
https://theconversation.com/languages-are-disappearing-and-t…

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Claim 15: “Written by philosopher Nikhil Krishnan and published under the title Sometimes, It’s O.K. to Let a Language Die, the review’s arguments are depressingly familiar”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm a New Yorker article titled 'Sometimes It's Okay to Let a Language Die' exists as a response to Smith Galler's book.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — New Yorker article title "Sometimes It's Okay to Let a Language Die" with "Sometimes It's" crossed out in red ink and "IT'S NOT" written above it.
https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/story/response-sometimes…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Sophia Smith Galler’s How to Kill a Language introduces the many methods that are used to coerce people into taking up dominant languages at the expense of their own.This backlash is clearly seen in a…
https://theconversation.com/languages-are-disappearing-and-t…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — What does it really mean when a language “dies”? Often, it is not simply that speakers stop using it—it is that they are pushed towards another language. This article reviews Sophia Smith Galer’s "How…
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-keighley-perkins-3472a195_…

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Claim 16: “books such as Speak Not (2021) by journalist James Griffiths and Language City by linguist Ross Perlin (2024).”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm Ross Perlin wrote 'Language City' (published Feb 20, 2024). While James Griffiths' 'Speak Not' is mentioned in the claim, the Ross Perlin book is strongly verified by multiple sources.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Ross Perlin is an American linguist and co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance. He has made significant contributions to the Languages of New York City map.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Perlin

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Here is a quick description and cover image of book Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York written by Ross Perlin which was published in February 20, 2024.
https://oceanofpdf.com/authors/ross-perlin/pdf-epub-language…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — About 700 languages are spoken in New York, some of them at risk of extinction. How many can one linguist work to preserve?So writes linguist and New Yorker Ross Perlin in his book Language City: The …
https://www.booksoncities.com/p/ross-perlin-language-city-th…

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Claim 17: “a recent review of more than 250 research articles on Indigenous languages and health found clear support for a positive link between the maintenance and revitalisation of Indigenous languages and positive health outcomes.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 18: “previous endangered languages travelogues, such as Last Speakers (2010) by linguist David K. Harrison and Spoken Here (2003) by journalist Mark Abley.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that Mark Abley wrote 'Spoken Here' (2003) and David K. Harrison wrote 'The Last Speakers' (2010).

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Chulym (Chulym: Ось тили, чулым тили, татар тили[, Ös tili, chulym tili, tatar tili; Russian: Чулымский язык), also known as Chulym Tatar, Chulim, Chulym-Turkic (not to be confused with the Kipchak Si…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chulym_language

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Michael John Harrison (born 26 July 1945), known for publication purposes primarily as M. John Harrison, is an English author and literary critic. His work includes the Viriconium sequence of novels a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._John_Harrison

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tuvan, also spelt Tyvan, is a Turkic language spoken in the Republic of Tuva in South Central Siberia, Russia. There are small groups of Tuvans that speak distinct dialects of Tuvan in China and Mongo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvan_language

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 19: “Rudolf Virchow, one of the founders of contemporary public health, argued in 1848 that the health of Polish-speaking subjects of Prussia could be improved by providing them education and health services in their language.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 20: “Sophia Smith Galler’s How to Kill a Language introduces the many methods that are used to coerce people into taking up dominant languages at the expense of their own.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Sophia Smith Galler wrote 'How to Kill a Language' and that it discusses methods used to coerce people into adopting dominant languages.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following notable people have died by suicide since 2000. This includes suicides effected under duress and excludes deaths by accident or misadventure. People who may or may not have died by their…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicides_(2000–present…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Marion Cotillard (French: [maʁjɔ̃ kɔtijaʁ] ; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress who has appeared in both mainstream and independent European and Hollywood productions. She is the recipient of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Cotillard

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 21: “In the US, Native Americans could choose to speak their languages in residential schools, but this meant choosing to be beaten.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.