Note #13
Speaking In Tongues
What is the value of preserving indigenous languages?
In the modern world, indigenous cultures and languages face significant threat of extinction in most parts of the world. Many of these endangered languages are spoken only by a handful of people and some of them don't even have written forms.
They are vital in order to maintain linguistic diversity and not shrink the world culturally. Some languages have words and phrases that cannot be translated into any other language. In this case, if the language becomes extinct, that untranslatable information is lost forever.
Much of what is known about nature is encompassed in indigenous languages. When the 2004 tsunami struck, natives on the Indonesian island of Simeulue were able to predict it and move to high ground because of the information passed on orally from generations ago. In contrast, the tsunami warning systems were only able to predict it right before it struck. Similarly, many indigenous languages provide valuable insight into subjects still unexplored or undocumented by modern forces. Indigenous languages are cauldrons of historical and scientific knowledge spanning many milleniums and a large portion of this information hasn't seen the light of day. As people begin to realize their value in society, many steps have been taken in order to rehabilitate the language. For example, the Indian government has urged students and intellectuals to take up Sanskrit in order to extract scientific knowledge and assimilate it into modern science.
The extinction of a language also represents the elimination of a whole new perspective. The existence of multifarious perspectives is crucial as it improves decision making and leads to better conclusions in general. Therefore it can be reasoned that the motive behind preserving indigenous languages is not just decorative in general, but serves a wide range of applications.
Speaking In Tongues
What is the value of preserving indigenous languages?
In the modern world, indigenous cultures and languages face significant threat of extinction in most parts of the world. Many of these endangered languages are spoken only by a handful of people and some of them don't even have written forms.
They are vital in order to maintain linguistic diversity and not shrink the world culturally. Some languages have words and phrases that cannot be translated into any other language. In this case, if the language becomes extinct, that untranslatable information is lost forever.
Much of what is known about nature is encompassed in indigenous languages. When the 2004 tsunami struck, natives on the Indonesian island of Simeulue were able to predict it and move to high ground because of the information passed on orally from generations ago. In contrast, the tsunami warning systems were only able to predict it right before it struck. Similarly, many indigenous languages provide valuable insight into subjects still unexplored or undocumented by modern forces. Indigenous languages are cauldrons of historical and scientific knowledge spanning many milleniums and a large portion of this information hasn't seen the light of day. As people begin to realize their value in society, many steps have been taken in order to rehabilitate the language. For example, the Indian government has urged students and intellectuals to take up Sanskrit in order to extract scientific knowledge and assimilate it into modern science.
The extinction of a language also represents the elimination of a whole new perspective. The existence of multifarious perspectives is crucial as it improves decision making and leads to better conclusions in general. Therefore it can be reasoned that the motive behind preserving indigenous languages is not just decorative in general, but serves a wide range of applications.
Very informative! In addition to the values you have imposed above, preserving indigenous languages is significant to science, in regards to implementing medicinal terminology that cannot be translated into English or any other language.
ReplyDeleteI found your points quite interesting, especially the point where you mentioned how the oral tradition of a native group was able to predict things better than modern technology, with its different approach to tsunami warning. Its kind of similar to the movie, actually, where the Chulym language had a completely different structure to common languages (one word in Chulym could be a complete sentence in English), and even had a different number system.
ReplyDeleteYour points were very interesting and very informative! I agreed on the point that loosing a language means the same as loosing a culture as language holds various knowledge and cultural aspects about certain topics
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