The question of endangered languages : present state and solutions with a focus on Indian scenario

Languages are not simply means of communication but a testimony of centuries of life.It has enormous cultural heritage; the understanding of how humans relate to the world around us; scientific, medical and botanical knowledge; and most importantly, the expression of communities’ humor, love and life. So when they are lost a unique vision of the world is lost.

                       When a language dies, the knowledge of and ability to understand the culture who spoke it is threatened because the teachings, customs, oral traditions and other inherited knowledge are no longer transmitted among native speakers. As each language dies,science in linguistics, anthropology, prehistory and psychology loses some diversity in data sources.

                       Languages are entities that are alive and in constant flux and though extinction is not new but the pace at which it is disappearing today is alarming.Technically an endangered language means :the one at the verge of being extinct.

       

                       Basically a language becomes endangered when it is not passed on to the next generation in appropriate number .Also political and historical turmoil has also been responsible ( When people are forced from their homes into new lands, they may have to learn the language of the new area to adapt, and they end up losing their language. Likewise, when a country or territory is successfully invaded, the population may be forced to learn the invader's language.)

                        There can also be several other factors that can put a language into becoming extinct. First and most important is globalization and economic integration. Because of globalization and economic integration the world is becoming closer and narrower. All rules and regulations are becoming unified. All policies are becoming centralized to the powerful nations. For the understanding of centralized decisions to all over the world, the need for some common languages comes into being. By the need of this, the languages of powerful countries get emphasis, and less power. Gradually less powerful languages have been extinct. Cultural anthropologist Wade Davis points to the dangers of “modernization” (often cited as reason for economic development) and globalization as threats to indigenous cultures and languages throughout the world.

                                The second reason for extinction of language is the situation of cultural pressure,where populations must speak a dominant language, two linguistic outcomes may occur: first – and most commonly – a subordinate population may shift abruptly to the dominant language, leaving the native language to a sudden linguistic death. For this reason in 1947 Bengali protested the decision of Pakistan of making only Urdu the state language of Pakistan, denying Bangla.

                                   The third reason for extinction is the more gradual process of language death that may occur over several generations. Such as, the Coptic language is replaced by Arabic in its native Egypt through the passes of time.

                              Fourthly, language extinction may also occur when a language evolves into a new language or family of languages. An example of this was Old English, a forerunner of Modern English.

                       Fifthly, Institutions such as the education system, as well as forms of media such as the Internet, television, and print media play a significant role in the process of language loss. For example, immigrants from one country come to another, their kids go to school in the country, and the schools may teach them in the language in the country which is official rather than their native language.

                             

                                Linguists’ foretell about the extinction of language is alarming.About half of the world's seven thousand languages are at the risk of disappearing in the next 100 years.Except hebrew in isreal no other language in the world has made enviable transformation from being a dead entity to the first language of a large community. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), from facts published in their "Atlas of Languages in Danger of Disappearing," there are an estimated 6,000 languages spoken worldwide today, and  half of the world’s population speaks the eight most common. More than 3,000 languages are reportedly spoken by fewer than 10,000 people each. UNESCOs endangered languages list topper is India with 197 languages,tulu being the latest to join the club.The latest lost language to indian club of languages is BO of the great andamanese family when in 2010 its last speaker Boa sr passed away.The figure had set alarm bell ringing in a lingistically well endowed country like india.

                           Given the importance of languages steps need to be taken for there preservation .One way is to encourage younger generations to speak the language as they grow, so they will then teach their children the language as well. In many cases, this option is nearly impossible. There are often many factors that endanger a language, and it is impossible to control each of these factors to ensure its survival.

                             The internet can be used to raise awareness about the issues of language extinction and language preservation. It can be used to translate, catalog, store, and provide information and access to languages. New technologies such as podcasts can be used to preserve the spoken versions of languages, and written documents can preserve information about the native literature and linguistics of languages.  Also cyber talking dictionaries may prove to be helpful

                            Computer scientists estimate that a mere 10% of the world's languages are used online. Google allows its users to select from 36 languages, and 28 of those are European in origin, which clearly marginalizes Native and Indigenous languages. The international internet provider VeriSign estimates that 65-70% of all internet content in is English.A notable initiative in this regard is  "Endangered Language Project" or the Endangered Languages ​​Project Rescue launched by google in 2012.The goal is to preserve the languages ​​as the number of speakers continues to shrink and people who know the rare languages ​​are expected to be able to collaborate and contribute information on the online database.

                             The government of india's Central intitute of Indian languages in working in the field of documentation and preservation of languages...........................................

                           even if the speakers are gone language must remain as a window to the once extinct form of culture