27 de marzo de 2015

18

Author: Yoemichel Domnguez Gutirrez

If we read in a newspaper that
The worlds 6,000 languages
will be dead or dying by 2050,
we may think that such a statement sounds, in several ways,
an exaggeration or even a joke.
However, there are already more
than 3,000 endangered languages
in our world. Skeptical language
defenders are still trying to ignore
that in the recent future only
fewer languages could be spoken
worldwide.
Language is one of those outstanding skills in the humans
world that is not easily conceptualized or framed in just one meaning. Experts mostly agree with its
complexity and diversity, but not
a single satisfactory concept has
been established yet, efficiently.
Either would be the concept,
today we will be dealing with
the system of elements, which
combined, can make possible
communication between human
beings: the spoken languages.
Many have claimed that language was given to mankind by
gods. Others are sure that language is not exclusively to human
beings, that animals and plants
have the gift too. Others look for
a scientific answer in the path of
evolution. Nonetheless, it doesnt
matter how prolific biology or

Many have claimed

that language
was given to
mankind by gods

Tourist Office

923 218 342

923 268 571

SALMNTICA Tourist
Guides Asociation

609 486544

AGOST Tourist
Guides Asociation

629 407300

Rural Tourism Info

Central Bus Station
Train Information
Taxi Information
HERTZ Rent a Car
AVIS Rent a Car

923 437 573

923 236 717
902 240 202
923 250 000
923 243 134
923 269 753

Emergency
112
Local Police
092
National Police
091 / 923 265 311
Red Cross
923 221 032
Universitary Hospital 923 291 100
Salamanca City Hall
923 279 100

Endangered languages

human creativity or a god has

been. What really matters is that
language, as it is known today, is
dying.
Language behaves like any
other living things which are unpredictable. Plants and animals
have appeared and disappeared
over thousand centuries and
these cyclical phenomena havent
been fully explained without the
so-called theory of human action.
And compared to living things,
languages evolve, grow, spread

and, eventually, they could wane

like the Moon and even vanish.
As in natural processes, languages sometimes are also
replaced by their descendants.
Looking back in history, we could
find several examples of those
languages which have disappeared in the last millennia. On
the other hand, Ainu in Japan,
Apiaka in Brazil, Chimicuro in
Peru, Chemehuevi in the Western
coast of US and others are almost
dead languages and will be at the

top of the list quite soon.

Language extinction is speeded
up nowadays for the same reasons
as species extinction. Population
decrease, political supremacies
and conflicts, and the spread
of industrialization are rushing
processes which could have been
slower or just different. But, there
would be considered a natural
factor too. These endangered
languages sometimes coexist with
other local or official languages.
Eventually, they are replaced as

its older speakers die and younger

ones forget them or simply adopt
a more useful one.
In the European Union, there is
an increasingly concern for how
English is becoming the most
commonly spoken language in
Europe, since it is the only one
shared by Europeans. Speaking
a universal language could be
considered a great advantage as
it allows people to communicate
each other more easily. Nevertheless, as we worry about biological
complexity for our survival, we
should also care identically for
linguistic complexity for our cultural survival.
We have made efforts to bring
back plants and animals that
were almost extinct. Languages
could too. Moreover, languages
have an advantage over species
because they can be raised from
the dead even if they have already
been wiped out. Maybe, only
fewer languages could be spoken
worldwide in the recent future
because they will die, if they are
not spoken or taught. It is in our
hands not to lose any language
because it means losing ourselves
in that loss. Language diversity is
as important as biological diversity, is as important as human life
itself.

We have made efforts

to bring back
plants and animals that
were almost extinct