What is causing the slow death of the Apache languages?
Starting with the basics, the name Apache itself is not one that is formally recognized by the people it designates. The word was first used by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 17th century. Although the term Apache is widely used, the Apaches refer to themselves as Indé meaning "the people".
Currently, the various tribes of the Apache community are spread across Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Northern Mexico. Technically, they speak one of five Southern Athabaskan languages: Western Apache, Plains Apache, Jicarilla Apache, Lipan Apache, and Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache languages.
However, the numbers of speakers are dwindling rapidly. It is estimated that only 14,000 people still speak the Western Apache and live sometimes far apart from each other - a factor that is causing the decline. Attempts to keep Plains Apache alive suffered when the last native speaker died.
One of the problems with these languages is their difference. To communicate effectively, people from different tribes use English. Over the past decade, many remote areas are now more open and have also received better telecoms, further increasing the impact of English. Also, several religious schools on reserves actively discourage the use of traditional customs.
With dwindling numbers of speakers, official attempts to revive the languages are not effective. “No amount of money will remedy the situation,” according to Allan Taylor, a former professor of linguistics. “You can’t buy language speakers when none are on offer, you can’t pay someone to teach who does not know the subject matter, you can’t expect people to teach a language when their knowledge of the language is only implicit.”
As another linguist soberly pointed out, “The language you don’t teach your children is the language that will be dead in 20 years”.
(Michael Leahy. Photo © Marco Antonio Casique Reyes/Pexels)