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Language is much more than a device for communication.

They hold
irreplaceable cultural significance, ancestral memories, and heritage, unique
knowledge and traditions. It is an important factor in national development
and the carrier of the intangible heritage of each nation, because it reflects
ethno-cultural, psychological and mythological ideas and experiences. These
assets are lost at the moment a language disappears. That is why the language
was introduced into the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible
Cultural Heritage, adopted in 2003.
Language diversity is essential to the human heritage. Though approximately
six thousand languages still exist, many are under threat. A language is in
danger when its speakers cease to use it, use it in an increasingly reduced
number of communicative domains, and cease to pass it on from one
generation to the next. That is, there are no new speakers, adults or children.
According to UNESCO “one language disappears on average every two weeks,
taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage”. About 97% of the
world’s people speak about 4% of the world’s languages. It is estimate that, in
most world regions, about 90% of the languages may be replaced by dominant
languages by the end of the 21st century. *UNESCO
Language endangerment may be the result of external forces such as military,
economic, religious, cultural, or educational subjugation, or it may be caused
by internal forces, such as a community’s negative attitude towards its own
language.
Many indigenous peoples, associating their disadvantaged social position with
their culture, have come to believe that their languages are not worth
retaining. They abandon their languages and cultures in hopes of overcoming
discrimination, to secure a livelihood, and enhance social mobility, or to
assimilate to the global marketplace.
The extinction of each language results in the irrecoverable loss of unique
cultural, historical, and ecological knowledge. Each language is a unique
expression of the human experience of the world. Speakers of these languages
may experience the loss of their language as a loss of their original ethnic and
cultural identity.
In India, Constitutionally, there are 22 official languages. Are only these
languages spoken in India? Certainly not. India writes in many languages and
speaks in many more voices. There is 200 words describing snow in the
Himalayan region alone. G.N Devy, documented 780 languages while
conducting the People’s Linguistic Survey of India in 2010, also shockingly
found that 600 of these languages were dying. Close to 250 languages had
already died over the past 60 years.
Example of some language about which we haven’t ever heard-
1. ALIPUR SIGN LANGUAGE
Alipur Sign Language (APSL) is an indigenous village sign language used
in Alipur, in the state of Karnataka in southern India. Alipur is a large
village of approximately 20,000 inhabitants, of which 150 are deaf.
had a high incidence of deafness, due to generations of endogamous
marriage patterns stemming from the village’s religious
customs, isolation, and beliefs about outsiders. Currently, there are 150
deaf villagers, who comprise nearly 1% of the total population; this is
10–20 times higher than the usual proportion seen in the general
population. Deafness occurs throughout the village, but is more strongly
represented in particular families, some of which have had deaf
members for several continuous generations. One of these is referred to
as ‘the deaf clan’.
APSL is quite different in structure from Indian Sign Language, which is
used in the areas around Alipur. Due to the longstanding high proportion
of deaf inhabitants, the majority of villagers use APSL regardless of their
hearing status. Villagers contend that APSL is as old as the village itself –
almost 300 years old. However, in Alipur this setting appears to be
changing, as recently there has been increasing language contact with
urban sign language varieties, part those used in nearby city Bengaluru.
Sign language varieties used by the younger generation and the older
generation are diverging rapidly. Younger deaf people from Alipur have
become increasingly mobile and frequently travel to the city
(Bengaluru), where they meet deaf friends who use American Sign
Language (ASL).

2. KORLAI PORTUGESE

Korlai Creole is mix of Portuguese and Marathi. It is known as the ‘Christi


language’, especially among the non-Korlai Creole speaking Hindu
residents of Korlai and nearby, and is the mother tongue of fewer than
800 people from the predominantly Catholic Christian agriculturist
community.
Korlai is located on the west coast of Maharashtra, about 20 km south of
Alibaug. History of korlai speaking community goes back to the
occupation of the Chaul area by Portuguese in 1594 and they identified
by their distinct tongue that speakers refer to as ‘NO LING’.
Clements in his book ‘the genesis of a language’ suggests that the korlai
Creole Portuguese emerged relatively abruptly among the many slaves
and their offspring who at the beginning of the Portuguese occupation
of that area converted to Christianity while maintaining the isolating
caste distinctions.
Korlai Creole is more Portuguese than Marathi. It of course borrows
several words from both the languages and shows remarkable similarity
in expressions used in Marathi. But the Korlai Creole is very intriguing
and different from the local dominant Marathi. Even the native
Portuguese will find it difficult to understand this language as it has
evolved into an independent language structure with its intrinsic logic
and culture.
Its isolation resulted in restricted contact with the Marathi-speaking
world as well as a self-sustained economy preserving the language.
Further, the practice of not marrying outside the community or religion,
practised by all in the region, and the use of creole as a way of religious
communication ensured conservation of the language as the medium of
personal and closed communication, thus maintaining its informal
character.
With the increased use of Marathi and English in all aspects of life, their
economic relevance, along with the formalisation of language training,
Korlai Creole is struggling to survive. With Kochi-Portuguese Creole
(spoken by few Christian families in Vypeen Island of Kochi) recently
becoming extinct, the danger has become more imminent.

3. TANGAM LANGUAGE

Arunachal Pradesh is linguistically very rich and one of the most diverse
regions in all of Asia, being home to near about 50 distinct languages in
addition to innumerable dialects and sub-dialects within them.
The Tangams are a little-known community within the larger Adi tribe of
Arunachal Pradesh and reside in the hamlet of Kugging in Upper Siang
district’s Paindem circle. As per the UNESCO World Atlas of Endangered
Languages (2009), Tangam — an oral language that belongs to the Tani
group, under the greater Tibeto-Burman language family — is marked
‘critically endangered’. Kugging is surrounded by a number of villages
inhabited by Adi subgroups such as Shimong, Minyongs, as well as the
Buddhist tribal community of Khambas, among others. To communicate
with their neighbours over the years, the Tangams have become
multilingual, speaking not just Tangam, but other tongues such as
Shimong, Khamba and Hindi.
Tangam is a member of the Tani subgroup of Trans-Himalayan language
- one of the largest and most diverse language families in the world. As
a Trans-Himalayan language, Tangam is distantly related to Tibetan,
Burmese, and Chinese, as well as many of its Eastern Himalayan
neighbour languages.
According to Professor S Simon John, despite there being a plethora of
languages in the state, almost all are endangered. According to the
UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger (2009) more than 26
languages of Arunachal Pradesh have been identified as endangered.
The degrees range from ‘unsafe’, ‘definitely endangered’ to ‘critically
endangered.

4. KANASHI LANGUAGE

India’s Parvati Valley is well known among travellers for its psychedelic
parties and free-flowing hashish that originates from the ancient village
of Malana in North India’s Himachal Pradesh region. But if you look
beyond the haze, you’ll find a treasure trove of legends, intrigue and
unanswered questions. Nestled in the peaks of the Himalayas, Malana is
surrounded by steep cliffs and snow-capped mountains.
Legend has it that some of Alexander the Great’s army took shelter in
this isolated village in 326BC after they were wounded in a battle against
Porus, a ruler in India’s Punjab region. These soldiers are often said to be
the ancestors of the Malani people. Artefacts from that period have
been found in the village, such as a sword. However, genetic ties to the
soldiers have not been studied or established. But these theories are
fuelled by locals’ noticeably different physical features and their
language, which are unlike that of any other local tribe, adding to the
enigma surrounding the Malanis and their identity. They speak Kanashi,
which is considered sacred and is not taught to outsiders. It is also
spoken nowhere else in the world.

Kanashi qualifies as a definitely endangered, as an unwritten and almost


undescribed language. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family,
and in all the surrounding villages, Indo-Aryan languages are spoken,
which are completely unrelated to Kanashi. Kanashi is vastly distinctive
from its derivation, its verbalization and its importance in preserving the
heritage of this isolated village. They strictly avoid conversing with
outsiders in the same language to maintain its sanctity. Kanashi has been
referred by UNESCO as definitely endangered.

5. TOTO
In the sub Himalayan region of West Bengal, bordering with Bhutan
country, a small Vulnerable Tribal Group named Toto, has been living for
generations. Toto, the language name is returned after the tribal name.
Totos are having Mongoloid features. Their complexion is rather on the
darker side, which reflects their nearness to the equator. They are
generally endogamous and marry within their own tribe. The village
Totopara, where they inhabit, is mostly dominated by Totos among
others. Totos were nearly becoming extinct in the 1950s, but recent
measures to safeguard their areas from being swamped with outsiders
have helped preserve their unique heritage and also helped the
population grow. The total population of Totos according to 1951 census
was 321 living in 69 different houses at Totopara. In 1991 census, the
Toto population had increased to 926 who lived in 180 different houses.
In the 2001 census, their number had increased to 1184 - all living in
Totopara. Anthropologists agree that the Toto culture and language is
totally unique to the tribe, and is clearly distinguished from the
neighbouring Rajbongshis tribes.
Toto language belongs to Tibeto-Burman family of sub-Himalayan group,
as classified by Hodgson and Grierson. They do not have any script.

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