Annual International Mother Language Day, Aimed At Promoting Linguistic And Cultural Diversity And Multilingualism, Is Celebrated On Thursday

The annual International Mother Language Day, aimed at promoting linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, is celebrated on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2019) The annual International Mother Language Day, aimed at promoting linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, is celebrated on Thursday.

The International Mother Language Day was first announced by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999, and is celebrated annually on February 21.

This date is a reference to the events of February 21, 1952, when students in Bangladesh were protesting for their language rights. The activists demanded to recognize their native Bengali language as one of the country's official languages. However, the police cracked down on the protesters, who were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

The mother tongue is an expression of a person's identity and the link between generations. It is closely linked to the history of an ethnic group, promotes its unity and becomes a guarantee of its originality, building an inextricable link between its speakers and serving as the basis for a nation.

Languages contain a body of acquired knowledge. Some of them describe a certain environment, for example, the Amazonian jungle, in the most unique way, while others note the healing properties of medicinal herbs, or contain information on astronomy.

The dissemination of native languages contribute not only to linguistic diversity and multilingualism, but also to a fuller understanding of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world. But, despite their tremendous value, languages all over the world continue to disappear.

The disappearance of any language means the loss of a part of humanity's heritage.

By introducing the International Mother Language Day, UNESCO called on countries to develop, support and intensify activities aimed at respecting and protecting all languages, especially endangered ones.

The United Nations proclaimed the year of 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. The theme of this year's International Mother Language Day is "Indigenous languages matter for development, peace building and reconciliation."

According to the United Nations, there are about 7,000 languages worldwide. There are an estimated 370 million indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries.

The disappearance of languages has different paces. Australia, which until the 1970s banned Aboriginal people from speaking their native language, has the record number of dead or endangered languages. Out of the 400 languages that existed there in the early 20th century, only 25 are currently spoken. At least 250 out of 1,400 African languages are in danger, and usage of 500-600 more is in decline. This is particularly the case in Nigeria and East African countries. Only six out of 47 known languages of Northeast Asia survived under the pressure of Russian. More than half of the 23 languages in Taiwan did not manage stand the pressure of the Chinese language.

It is impossible to determine the exact number of languages that disappeared throughout the entire history of the human race. Linguists managed to count the number of languages that disappeared in certain regions, such as Europe and Asia Minor (75 languages) or the United States (115 languages that disappeared in the last five centuries out of 280 that were spoken in the era of Christopher Columbus).

Some examples of languages that disappeared recently are as follows: the Asa language, which was spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania, disappeared in 1976; Ubykh language (Turkey) disappeared in 1992 with the death of the last known fully competent speaker Tevfik Esenc; Akkala Sami (Russia) - the last known speaker died in 2003; the Eyak language (the United States, Alaska) disappeared in 2008 with the death of the last speaker Marie Smith Jones.

Today, endangered languages exist in all regions and almost all countries of the world. The greatest danger of disappearing threatens regions with linguistic diversity.

More than 60 languages are included in the Red Book of Languages of Peoples of Russia. The Votic language in Russia is the first one on the endangered list. This language is remembered by several representatives of the older generation, who live in two villages in the north-west of the Leningrad Region.

Experts draw attention to the fact that languages used to disappear as a result of the death of the people due to epidemics, wars, or the decline in the birth rate, but today the speakers voluntarily switch to another dominant language. In some cases, political authorities pressure citizens to speak the official language, as the existence of several languages is often perceived as a threat to national unity. In addition, native speakers can cast aside their native language in favor of the dominant one, if they feel that this helps them and their children to integrate into society.

The expansion of trade links, the attractiveness of consumer goods, urbanization and the strengthening of economic restrictions - all of these push native speakers to switch to the dominant language. Television and radio also make their contribution, strengthening the position of the dominant language.

According to UNESCO, the creation of favorable conditions for native speakers to speak and teach their children the language, the creation of educational systems that promote learning in their native language, and the development of a writing system are among measures that are essential to prevent the disappearance of languages. Since the attitude of community members toward their own language is the main factor, it is also necessary to create a social and political environment that will promote multilingualism and respect for indigenous languages, so that the use of these languages will be an advantage rather than a disadvantage.