25 2. Overall framework of contact phenomena languages that are being gradually replaced by English. The classification is divided into five stages: Stage 1: language X is used as the first language by a full community of at least some hundreds of people and it is used in every aspect of their daily lives. Stage 2: some people still have X as their first language, but for others it is a second language. Stage 3: only a few old people still have X as their first language; for most of the community, English is the dominant language. Stage 4: nobody knows the full or original form of X; some members of the community speak a modified version of X, with simplified grammar. Stage 5: everyone in the community speaks in English. The indigenous Australian languages exist along with the dominant English language, which is present in almost all official domains. The pressure of English which gradually supersedes the vernacular varieties is strong and slowly encompasses further areas. The extent to which the languages are considered to be either safe or endangered seems to be most visible when the three main factors determining the vitality of a language are taken into account. These factors are: number of speakers, age of the speakers and transmission to children. In all of the above classifications, these aspects seem to constitute the core of all the classifications. Joyce Hudson and Patrick McConvell (1984: 29–30, quoted in Tsunoda 2005: 11) established four different types of a language condition with the three above factors in mind. S t r o n g l a n g u a g e s : the traditional language is still the main, first language for everybody, including children. S i c k l a n g u a g e s : these will die away soon if they do not receive treatment. Young people may understand a sick language when it is spoken in a simple way and may be able to say only a few words. D y i n g l a n g u a g e s : no young people are learning them. D e a d l a n g u a g e s : they are no longer spoken. All of the typologies and classifications describe similar stages of various languages by taking into account different variables, such as the function of the languages, age of the members of the speech communities and whether a given language is passed down from one generation to another. The sad conclusion one can draw from these typologies is the fact that almost in every part of the world there are dialects and languages that are gradually disappearing or are slowly being replaced by the dominant European and non-European majority varieties, such as English, French or Italian.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE5NDY5MQ==