UN frets over loss of most languages

THE demise of some of the world’s languages – more than 6,000 in all – could also mean the loss of important knowledge on biodiversity, says a United Nations official.
Irina Bokova, the head of the United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), said in a statement to mark the International Mother Language Day that nearly half of the languages spoken in the world could die out by the end of the century.
Unesco’s atlas of the world’s languages in danger of dying provides a map to understand this struggle.
“Language loss impoverishes humanity.  It is a retreat in the defence of everyone’s rights to be heard, to learn and to communicate,’’ she said.
“Each language conveys cultural heritage in a way that increase our creative diversity.
“Cultural diversity is as important as biological diversity in nature, and they are closely linked.
“The languages of some indigenous peoples carry unique knowledge on biodiversity and management of ecosystems.
“This linguistic potential is an asset for sustainable development and must be shared for the benefit of all.
“Unesco will bring this message also to the UN conference on sustainable development in Rio.”
The UN has celebrated the day for 12 years and directs great energy to protecting linguistic diversity.
“This 13th celebration is dedicated to multilingualism for inclusive education,’’ she said.
“The work of researchers and the impact of multilingualism policies have shown that people perceive intuitively that linguistic diversity accelerates work to achieve the millennium development goals and education for all goals in particular. Use of the mother tongue at school is a powerful remedy against illiteracy.
“The challenge remains, however, to ensure this truth is actually acted on in the classroom.
“Excluded population groups, such as indigenous peoples, are often those whose mother tongues are ignored by education systems.