Documenting language transmission in a critically endangered language: the case of Livonian

Abstract

Language transmission in endangered language communities rarely follows the pathways described by classical models of intergenerational transfer. Where mainstream sociolinguistics has long centred the family as the natural and primary domain of language continuity, critically endangered languages frequently exist in conditions where this domain has been profoundly disrupted or has ceased to function altogether. In such contexts, transmission does not simply slow down – it transforms, finding new carriers, new spaces, and new social logics that conventional frameworks are ill-equipped to capture. As Hornsby (2022) observes, how transmission plays out in practice varies considerably across communities, and the attitudes and ideologies speakers associate with their language ultimately emerge as determining factors in its survival. Transmission is thus not merely a demographic or structural phenomenon, but a deeply social and identity-bound process, shaped by the specific historical and community circumstances of each language situation. Livonian offers a particularly illuminating case. One of the world's most critically endangered languages, it has survived not through the preservation of traditional transmission environments, but in spite of their loss. Over the past fifty years, transmission has shifted predominantly towards a horizontal pattern – from speaker to speaker, outside of family boundaries – shaped by historical disruption and community fragmentation. Nevertheless, certain families have maintained vertical transmission across generations, and the broader community has demonstrated considerable resilience in finding new pathways for the language. This dual pattern reflects both the fragility of Livonian and the adaptive capacity of its speakers, raising important questions about how identity and solidarity continue to sustain a language when its conventional social infrastructure has largely collapsed. To document and analyse these processes, a methodological framework – the Mapping of Language Transmission – were developed integrating archival sources, historical speaker records, biographical interviews, and community ethnography, with particular attention to the conditions under which the language has been maintained. The framework traces transmission trajectories across at least one hundred years, identifying recurring and emergent patterns through which Livonian continues to be used, learned, and passed on today. Preliminary findings identify several key transmission modes operating beyond traditional sociolinguistic domains: speaker-to-speaker acquisition outside family structures, participation in shared community events, and engagement through digital platforms – environments that have acquired a vital sociolinguistic function precisely because conventional domains such as family communication, public interaction, and formal instruction are no longer viable for such a small and geographically dispersed community. The presentation argues that documenting these practice-grounded processes is essential both for language documentation and for developing meaningful instruments of preservation and revitalisation responsive to the needs of contemporary speakers. Idealised transmission models, designed with larger and more stable communities in mind, are of limited applicability here. By centring the lived experience of a modern community navigating an extraordinary linguistic situation, this work demonstrates that critically endangered languages can sustain continuity through resilience, solidarity, and adaptation – contributing to broader efforts to maintain global linguistic and cultural diversity.