May 15, 2016

The Endangered Languages Project

tags:	#Endangered Languages Project, #extinct languages, #human heritage, #human rights, #language preservation
by:	Deniz Zehra Tavli

Language loss is not new—languages have fallen out of use since ancient times. However, languages are disappearing today at an alarming rate. Of the nearly 7,000 languages in the world today, some 3,000 (43%) are endangered; many others will make their way into this catalogue in the near future.
Experts have predicted that in the worst-case scenario 90% of all languages will cease to be spoken within 100 years.

We should all be concerned over the crisis of language loss, for compelling reason:

Languages are treasure houses of information on literature, history, philosophy, and art. Their stories, ideas, and words help us make sense of our lives and the world around us. Specific knowledge is often held by the smaller speech communities of the world—knowledge of medicinal plants and cures, identification of plants and animals yet unknown scientifically. The loss of such knowledge could have devastating consequences for humanity.

The right for language is a human right. Language loss is often not voluntary; it frequently involves violations of human rights, with oppression or repression of speakers of minority languages. It is a matter of injustice when people are forced to give up their languages by repressive regimes or prejudiced dominant societies.

For these alarming reasons The Endangered Languages Project puts technology at the service of the organizations and individuals working to confront the language endangerment by documenting, preserving and teaching them. Through this website, users can not only access the most up to date and comprehensive information on endangered languages as well as samples being provided by partners, but also play an active role in putting their languages online by submitting information or samples in the form of text, audio or video files.

Share, like, follow, contribute and spread contents and links of The Endangered Languages Project and help raising awareness for this necessary and more than important project!

Photo: termcoord.wordpress.com