A Case for Linguistic Diversity

Of all the extinctions we are witnessing in the times today, the extinction of our world’s languages is one of them. According to a New York Times article, “[o]f the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today…nearly half are in danger of extinction and are likely to disappear in this century.” It makes a proposition by stating that the world’s languages are disappearing at the rate of about one for every two weeks. That certainly sounds alarming and threatening for most of us. But why is that so? Why does the decline of the world’s languages even concern us? What does and should motivate us to preserve these endangered languages? To answer these questions, I refer to the popular prepositions made by Ganesh Devy - an Indian literary critic - and Kat Eschner’s documentation of the four things at risk with the extinction of the world’s languages. 

To begin with, here's one of the famous quotes from Devy: “Each language is a unique worldview”. Through this statement, he tries to highlight the distinct ways in which human consciousness perceives the world around itself. He also seems to render language as an effective tool for encapsulating human imagination, and assimilating and transacting knowledge amongst ourselves. He gives an example of how there are “over 130 words for snow” in the Himalayan language, indicating 130 distinct ways of interpreting the very perception of snow in the natural world. Hence, when we say that we are preserving a language, we are not just preserving a “thing” called language, but we are preserving the multiple nuances of human intelligence that are ingrained into that language. 

Another profound statement made by Devy qualifies linguistic diversity as a global economic capital. He envisions how having numerous mother tongues could make it a certainty. This appears to make some real-time sense as we see how modern-day technology like computerization is fundamentally based on a language. Since the computer language has been derived from the Greek system's distinction between 0 and 1, Devy argues how incorporating the Sanskrit in computer language could bring about unprecedented advancements in computer science due to its distinct expressions of the concept of zero such as Kha (a space for things to be and perish), Shunya (emptiness), and Purna (has things in it that do not born or die). Assuming it as a valid argument, it makes a great point to wonder how the inclusion of diverse languages into the realm of technology and computer science could bring forth surplus economic advancements? Infact to explore this possibility, we really seem to need more and more languages that are unique in and of itself. That is another reason to make a point in the favor of preserving languages. 

However, one of the questions that arises is: do we really lose something with the loss of languages? Here, Kat Eschner’s insights are pertinent. She argues that we will lose the following four things with the loss of languages:

1. An Unique Human Vision 

Kat argues how the loss of a language could bring about a shortage of knowledge and wisdom about medicine, ecology, weather and climate, spirituality and art, and much more. These things are simply the unique territories of human intelligence that Devy also echoes. 

2. Historical and Cultural Roots

Since languages are rooted in one's history, geography, culture and tradition, Kat highlights how the loss of languages could possibly erase our historical and cultural heritage. She provides an example of the official language of Greenland that is “made up of extremely long words” that tend to be “customized to any occasion” (as qtd. by Eschner), implying the complexity of the language and of the human mind to bear that complexity. Here she tries to bring our attention to how the disappearance of such rich languages could make us incapable of understanding and processing the complexities of languages. 

3. Resources for Combating Environmental Threats

Here she brings into light how medical science, and governments around the world are struggling to get the necessary equipment to deal with newly discovered diseases, and manage marine and land ecosystems that are fragile in nature. Thus, she argues why the decline in the number of indigeneous languages could make us more unequipped in the midst of the world’s environmental crisis, for many indigeneous communities are proven to have rich sources of knowledge about the ecology, plants and animals

4. Our Mother Tongues

Lastly, Kat highlights a “real tragedy” that we all might relate with. She tries to communicate how our very first speaking languages could also be at the risk of extinction by citing an example of Canada's indigeneous people, whose languages are threatened by a government campaign. She asks us to imagine us being told that we cannot speak our first languages any longer to realize what losing one’s linguistic identity looks like. 

After refering to the prepositions made by Devy and Eschner, it is clear that linguistic diversity hold a utilitarian basis for them to be preserved. This ethical stance is backed by the synthesized understanding of languages as the fundamental asset for one's own identity, historical and cultural heritage, the global socio-economic and technological benefits. That makes the case in the favour of linguistic diversity.

Works Cited

1. Wilfred, John Nobel. "World’s Languages Dying Off Rapidly". The New York Times, 18 September 2007.

2. Sengupta, Rudraneil. “Ganesh Devy | Each language is a unique world view”. Livemint, 17 August 2013. 

3. Eschner, Kat. "Four Things That Happen When a Language Dies". Smithsonian, 21 February 2017.