Preserving Linguistic Diversity

2010-03-22 - Jon Ford

Language is one of the fundamental characteristics of what it means to be human. To learn a new language is to discover a new culture, a new means of expression, and a new way of thinking about and looking at the world. Therefore every time a language becomes extinct a whole culture is lost and humanity’s global memory and experience is impoverished.

This realisation has led, belatedly, to some concerted efforts to preserve the rich variety of linguistic diversity found all over the world. Minority and regional languages have always been in danger of being eradicated by more widely-spoken languages of power and commerce. In the United Kingdom, for example, minority languages such as Gaelic, Manx and Cornish receded quickly between the 17th and 19th centuries under pressure from English. By the middle of the 20th century, when some of these languages were in danger of becoming extinct, a concerted effort began among volunteers to bring them back into use. This involved holding language classes, publishing books and articles, broadcasting radio and television programmes and educating young people about their linguistic heritage.

In addition to the efforts of enthusiastic volunteers, government support is necessary if minority languages are to be preserved. The development of the Cornish language revival, for example, has been facilitated by the allocation of resources from local and national government, and recognition by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Some national governments, however, particularly those under budget restraints, may not view the preservation of minority and regional languages as a priority. It then becomes necessary for the speakers of the minority language to convince the government that their language is worth preserving. It should be argued that the regional language is an important cultural icon and that it contributes to a sense of regional identity. A regional language contributes to the image and economy of that area and can help to raise the profile of the region and increase tourism.

The best way to preserve a language is to keep it alive and in use. One method for safeguarding an endangered language is to teach it to younger generations as they are growing up, in the hope that they will continue to use it in their everyday lives and in turn pass it on to their own children. For many languages, however, this is not a feasible option as numbers of speakers continue to decrease. Technology can also be used to document and catalogue the global variety of linguistic diversity. The internet can be used to translate and archive languages while audio and video recordings can preserve their spoken forms. It has been estimated, however, that only 10% of the world’s languages are currently used online. The next step, therefore, in the development of language preservation should be to establish comprehensive online repositories for all minority, regional and endangered languages. A record of such languages would therefore be preserved should they ever become extinct.