Text and the City: How the City Shaped Language

Abstract

This paper presents the first case of dramatic and large-scale loss of linguistic diversity. Language death has been part of our history as long as languages were spoken, but in the fourth millennium bce urbanisation and a growing regional economy caused a decrease in both language and typological diversity on a much larger scale than ever before. The first cities in Mesopotamia had developed writing and administration which centralised power and disseminated its influence. In particular, standard languages that were used for official purposes over large areas emerged. Written standard language slowed down the rate of change and consolidated diverging dialects. The larger areas in which languages were spoken in combination with increased mobility and long-distance contacts increased language contact and decreased typological differentiation. Massive population movements due to natural and human made disasters wiped out whole linguistic lineages through language shifts. In effect, this was a first wave globalisation, resulting in the first extensive linguistic diversity eradication.