Languages / The United Nations published the "Atlas of the World's Endangered Languages"
by Tamara Traubman
Extinct languages in the world-map
More than half of the approximately 6,000 languages in the world are in danger of extinction, and among them
The cultural heritage accompanying them will also disappear. This is according to a new study
Published yesterday by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
"In many parts of the world, more than 3,000 languages are threatened by languages
dominance or government repressive policies," the study said. "With death
the disappearance of a language, an irreplaceable unit of knowledge is lost forever,
History and understanding of human thought, and of different worldviews."
According to the 90-page study, "The Atlas of the World's Endangered Languages
Extinction", the two continents America and Australia have the worst past
most. In Australia, as a result of a cruel policy that banned
The aborigines speak their original language, more than 160 of them have already become extinct
About 260 languages spoken by the original inhabitants of the continent before Boa came
The Europeans. Of the surviving languages, only about 25 of them have multiple speakers
Likely.
In the US, the study said, fewer than 150 of the hundreds of Native American languages have survived
that existed before the conquest by the new settlers. all languages
Those that survived are today in danger of extinction. "Discrimination against these languages has decreased
In the 70s, however, in the 80s, a conservative countertrend strengthened the policy
The 'English only' and exacerbated the extinction of Native American languages
Americanism," says the study.
The study identifies several "crisis areas", such as Taiwan, where more than half
Of the 23 local languages "surrender to the pressure of the Chinese language"; and you
New Caledonia, where French replaces the local languages.
"In Europe there are about 50 languages in danger," the study said. Languages like
Lapith, whose speakers live in Scandinavia and northern Russia, are "in danger."
severe, or dying." Central and South America does not have a large variety of languages
As elsewhere, "because whole peoples in eastern Brazil, Argentina
and Uruguay were murdered," say the researchers. The Spanish and the Portuguese
Threatens about 375 of the surviving languages.
According to Marcelo Daskel, professor of linguistics and philosophy at the University of Tel
Aviv, many languages in Israel have been in decline for years. for example
Ladino, Yiddish, some dialects of Arabic-Jewish from North Africa,
Central Asian and Samaritan Jewish languages, which he says is a "relic
A rare remnant from the Aramaic language".
Most languages in danger of extinction, says Prof. Daskel, are not accompanied by writing
And there is no written transcription of the pronunciation of their words. In fact, according to research, today there is
Less than a thousand languages are fully described. According to Daskel there is an urgent need
Increase efforts to document and preserve languages. "If the old man dies tomorrow
The last one who speaks one of these languages," he says, "will not actually survive
We have no record of her."
The reasons for the extinction of a language are many, says Daskel. in many areas
The extinction of languages because of education that emphasizes the dominant national language and also because
The assimilation of the original inhabitants into the dominant culture to gain places
Work and social and economic advancement. An extinct language is often a minority language,
And its revival also means restoring the sense of self-respect and identity of the people
the speaker. "Things like newspapers, literature, radio broadcasts, they are
The factors that politically determine the status of the language and its prospects
Not to become extinct," says Daskel, who himself tried to found a project to preserve languages
of Indians from the Amazon in Brazil.
Even languages that have already been declared dead can sometimes be revived, Daskel says,
and mentions, for example, Hebrew and the Basque language. According to him the conditions
The politicians who suppress language "can. Our duty is to preserve all that we are
can preserve".
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~304366895~~~127&SiteName=hayadan
