Changing the Definition of a Dead Language

When one thinks of a "Dead Language", aramaic, latin, heiroglyphics and other ancienct languages come to mind. But those languages died for different reasons then the ones mentioned in the article. Originally the homo-sapien world was confined to small portions of the world but when humanity started expanding across the globe, distinctions emerged between the societies and that's what we refer to as culture. A big part of that is language, and when the "center of the world" became just another place on the map there were 100s of languages to match to 100s of new cultures that had emerged. So the original few languages were dying off and being replaced by languages engrained in specific cultures. So to sum up, the spread of culture can be viewed as a strong factor in ancient languages dying.

But in modern days, indigenous tribes are losing their cultures to more mainstream ones. Slowly their languages and traditions are being swallowed by not only the English language (in reference to native american languages), but to other foriegn languages that are prevolent in the tribes area. So the term "dead-languages" was once used to refer to humanities original written words, but can now be expanded to include languages which are being swallowed up by mainstream cultures. The pressure to conform for survival is also putting a strain on indigenous tribes to maintain their culture, which includes their language.