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Source : http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/20/stories/2008022060490300.htm
Mother tongues thrive even in multi-cultural societies
Deepa Kurup
Unlike in U.S. where 211 languages recorded in 1960 have dwindled to about six, here we face no threat to our languages
In India, there are 1,576 mother tongue languages
Language is constantly evolving to a different context and space
BANGALORE: Ravi, a local grocery shop owner in Shantinagar, speaks seven languages and understands nine. He tends to exaggerate as he proudly states that he has worked all over the country. Further probing reveals that his multilingualism works well in his line of work. “It helps to know English and Hindi, but nothing gets a person comfortable like a sentence or two in his mother tongue,” he says. Anyone who has visited his shop knows that he is constantly trying to guess where you are from, so that he can tailor his sales pitch to buy that bag of chips you don’t really want.
Today, the concept of mother tongue is a difficult one to grapple with. Often confused with “local language” in an increasingly multicultural society, with mixed marriages and modernisation, there is constant breast-beating about how languages may die out and move from the functional space to a strictly domestic domain. However, linguists say that is hardly the case.
Unfounded fears
In India, there are 1,576 mother tongue languages with separate grammatical structures and syntax and 1,796 languages classified as “other mother tongues,” according to the 1901 census. “Most of these languages are still very much there. We are not a civilisation which is about to start a linguistic genocide,” says Udai Narayan Singh, Director of Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore. “English is not the real devil. It can be a language of commerce, trade, law and a lot more… but it has its own space,” he explains, as he points to the various regional channels mushrooming in the visual media. Back in the 1950s, Russian was the language of biology; most of chemistry was in French and engineering in German, all of which have now moved into the English domain. However, this does not mean that these languages have faced a setback of any sort.
A 2007 survey by the National Geographic said that half of the world’s 7,000 languages are expected to disappear before the end of this century; every 14 days a language dies. So what is it that is lost when a language fades to oblivion? From music and riddles to medicine and therapy, a large portion of traditional know-how - passed on orally through different aspects of language and structure - will be lost in translation.
Language is also constantly evolving to a different context and space. “In Kannada also there is so much knowledge in scriptures about alternative medicine, herbs and the like. Now if the next generation does not study or document this, the level of expertise needed to read and interpret will not be available,” says Prof. Singh. That is the real crisis, he points out. Unlike in the West where in the U.S. alone 211 languages recorded in 1960 have already dwindled down to about six, here we face no threat to most of our languages.
Census
Though there have been several censuses conducted officially, the Government only releases records of languages spoken by a minimum of 10,000 people. “Though we have wanted to study languages and document these, these details about endangered languages are not shared with us citing security reasons,” says Prof. Singh. One of the problems maybe that several of these are spoken in border areas, however, the CIIL has made a request to the Government to make these details available.
On the one hand are languages like Andamanese where the population of the community may have marginally increased but due to diversification the number of speakers is on the decline. On the other, there are languages like Gehri and Tinani from Himachal Pradesh which find no mention in the Census but carry on undocumented and unaided, in all their richness in vocabulary and construction.
What aren't we losing? Trees, Animals,Language, Culture.. The more I think about it, the more depressing it is
Mother tongues thrive even in multi-cultural societies
Deepa Kurup
Unlike in U.S. where 211 languages recorded in 1960 have dwindled to about six, here we face no threat to our languages
In India, there are 1,576 mother tongue languages
Language is constantly evolving to a different context and space
BANGALORE: Ravi, a local grocery shop owner in Shantinagar, speaks seven languages and understands nine. He tends to exaggerate as he proudly states that he has worked all over the country. Further probing reveals that his multilingualism works well in his line of work. “It helps to know English and Hindi, but nothing gets a person comfortable like a sentence or two in his mother tongue,” he says. Anyone who has visited his shop knows that he is constantly trying to guess where you are from, so that he can tailor his sales pitch to buy that bag of chips you don’t really want.
Today, the concept of mother tongue is a difficult one to grapple with. Often confused with “local language” in an increasingly multicultural society, with mixed marriages and modernisation, there is constant breast-beating about how languages may die out and move from the functional space to a strictly domestic domain. However, linguists say that is hardly the case.
Unfounded fears
In India, there are 1,576 mother tongue languages with separate grammatical structures and syntax and 1,796 languages classified as “other mother tongues,” according to the 1901 census. “Most of these languages are still very much there. We are not a civilisation which is about to start a linguistic genocide,” says Udai Narayan Singh, Director of Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore. “English is not the real devil. It can be a language of commerce, trade, law and a lot more… but it has its own space,” he explains, as he points to the various regional channels mushrooming in the visual media. Back in the 1950s, Russian was the language of biology; most of chemistry was in French and engineering in German, all of which have now moved into the English domain. However, this does not mean that these languages have faced a setback of any sort.
A 2007 survey by the National Geographic said that half of the world’s 7,000 languages are expected to disappear before the end of this century; every 14 days a language dies. So what is it that is lost when a language fades to oblivion? From music and riddles to medicine and therapy, a large portion of traditional know-how - passed on orally through different aspects of language and structure - will be lost in translation.
Language is also constantly evolving to a different context and space. “In Kannada also there is so much knowledge in scriptures about alternative medicine, herbs and the like. Now if the next generation does not study or document this, the level of expertise needed to read and interpret will not be available,” says Prof. Singh. That is the real crisis, he points out. Unlike in the West where in the U.S. alone 211 languages recorded in 1960 have already dwindled down to about six, here we face no threat to most of our languages.
Census
Though there have been several censuses conducted officially, the Government only releases records of languages spoken by a minimum of 10,000 people. “Though we have wanted to study languages and document these, these details about endangered languages are not shared with us citing security reasons,” says Prof. Singh. One of the problems maybe that several of these are spoken in border areas, however, the CIIL has made a request to the Government to make these details available.
On the one hand are languages like Andamanese where the population of the community may have marginally increased but due to diversification the number of speakers is on the decline. On the other, there are languages like Gehri and Tinani from Himachal Pradesh which find no mention in the Census but carry on undocumented and unaided, in all their richness in vocabulary and construction.
What aren't we losing? Trees, Animals,Language, Culture.. The more I think about it, the more depressing it is