Texting Could Save Dying Languages

Linguists push to get more of them on cell phones
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 2, 2009 8:25 AM CST
Texting Could Save Dying Languages
Text messaging is a vital tool of business communication in the less developed world.    (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Linguists trying to save the world's endangered languages believe cell phones—more specifically, texting—can give them a vital boost, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide, but predictive text software currently exists for just 80. Experts believe developing the technology for more tongues will help keep languages alive by making them more relevant to young people.

"It's extremely important that language isn't something that's only in books," said the director of a Gaelic institute. (More text message stories.)

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