Vanishing languages alarm experts

Linguists alarmed at the unceasing extinction of many indigenous languages identified five global "hot spots" where the problem is worst, led by northern Australia and a region of South America.The linguists are part of the Enduring Voices project that seeks to document and revitalise languages slipping toward oblivion, often spoken by indigenous peoples like Australia's aborigines whose cultures were trampled by settlers.

David Harrison of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, the project's co-director, said there are 6,992 recognised distinct languages worldwide. He said on average one language vanishes every two weeks, often as its last elderly speakers perish. The project named the region of northern Australia that includes Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia as the place where local languages are most threatened. The linguists said aboriginal Australia harbours some of the most endangered languages, with 153 different ones spoken in this region. A region of central South America covering Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia wassecond on the list of "hot spots," with indigenous languages being overcome by Spanish, Portuguese or other indigenous languages.The linguists said Bolivia has twice the language diversity of the nations of Europe combined, but many of the smaller tongues are being smothered by Spanish or other languages. Placing third and fifth on the list were regions of North America where the languages of native peoples are imperiled - an area including British Columbia in Canada and the US states of Washington and Oregon, and an area covering the US states of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. Eastern Siberia, also with endangered native languages, was the No.4 "hot spot"."There are quite a few languages, dozens if not hundreds, that are down to one, two or three speakers, or maybe even they've lost their last fluent speakers but have a few 'semi-speakers'who have a passive knowledge of the language," We're going to lose an immense storehouse of knowledge," Harrison added, noting for example that valuable information accumulated over centuries about various living species exists in languages of native peoples. Many languages have no written form, meaning that they are lost forever when their last speaker dies, Harrison said.
"Languages often trickle out of existence rather than sort of abruptly disappearing,".Over the years, some languages have been deliberately exterminated by colonisers or aggressors taking over territory or waging genocide.



Taken from the internet