full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Daniel Bögre Udell: How to save a language from extinction

Unscramble the Blue Letters


But things are changing. Around the world, people are reviving ancestral languages and ribeldniug their culterus. As far as we know, lgnaague reclamation began in the 1800s when, at a time of rinsig antisemitism, Jewish communities looked to their ancestral language, heebrw, as a means of cultural revival. And though it had been dronamt for over 1,000 years, it was well pevesrred in books of Jewish religion and philosophy. So Jewish activists studied and taught it to their children, raising the first native speakers in nearly 100 generations. Today, it's the mother tongue of five million Jews. And at least for me, an asileasimtd English-speaking member of the Jewish diaspora, a pillar of cultural sovereignty. Two thousand years later, we're still here.

Open Cloze


But things are changing. Around the world, people are reviving ancestral languages and __________ their ________. As far as we know, ________ reclamation began in the 1800s when, at a time of ______ antisemitism, Jewish communities looked to their ancestral language, ______, as a means of cultural revival. And though it had been _______ for over 1,000 years, it was well _________ in books of Jewish religion and philosophy. So Jewish activists studied and taught it to their children, raising the first native speakers in nearly 100 generations. Today, it's the mother tongue of five million Jews. And at least for me, an ___________ English-speaking member of the Jewish diaspora, a pillar of cultural sovereignty. Two thousand years later, we're still here.

Solution


  1. dormant
  2. rising
  3. language
  4. preserved
  5. assimilated
  6. cultures
  7. rebuilding
  8. hebrew

Original Text


But things are changing. Around the world, people are reviving ancestral languages and rebuilding their cultures. As far as we know, language reclamation began in the 1800s when, at a time of rising antisemitism, Jewish communities looked to their ancestral language, Hebrew, as a means of cultural revival. And though it had been dormant for over 1,000 years, it was well preserved in books of Jewish religion and philosophy. So Jewish activists studied and taught it to their children, raising the first native speakers in nearly 100 generations. Today, it's the mother tongue of five million Jews. And at least for me, an assimilated English-speaking member of the Jewish diaspora, a pillar of cultural sovereignty. Two thousand years later, we're still here.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
killing indigenous 2
ancestral languages 2
ancestral language 2
cornish speakers 2


Important Words


  1. activists
  2. ancestral
  3. antisemitism
  4. assimilated
  5. began
  6. books
  7. changing
  8. children
  9. communities
  10. cultural
  11. cultures
  12. diaspora
  13. dormant
  14. generations
  15. hebrew
  16. jewish
  17. jews
  18. language
  19. languages
  20. looked
  21. means
  22. member
  23. million
  24. mother
  25. native
  26. people
  27. philosophy
  28. pillar
  29. preserved
  30. raising
  31. rebuilding
  32. reclamation
  33. religion
  34. revival
  35. reviving
  36. rising
  37. sovereignty
  38. speakers
  39. studied
  40. taught
  41. thousand
  42. time
  43. today
  44. tongue
  45. world
  46. years