Ajay Kumar at 07:01, 23 August 2023

2023-08-23T07:01:40Z

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{{Short description|Language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples}}
{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=June 2017}}{{Indigenous rights|Endangered language}}
An '''indigenous language''', or '''autochthonous language''', is a [[language]] that is native to a region and spoken by [[indigenous peoples]]. This language is from a linguistically distinct [[community]] that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not necessarily [[national language]]s but they can be; for example, [[Aymara language|Aymara]] is an official language of Bolivia. Also, national languages are not necessarily indigenous to the country.

Many indigenous peoples worldwide have [[endangered language|stopped passing on]] their ancestral languages to the next generation and have instead [[language shift|adopted]] the [[majority language]] as part of their [[acculturation]] into the [[majority culture]]. Furthermore, many indigenous languages have been subject to [[language death|linguicide]] (language killing).<ref>See pp. 55-56 of [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil‘ad]], Shakuto-Neoh, Shiori & Quer, Giovanni Matteo (2014), [http://www.professorzuckermann.com/#!native-tongue-title/cufd Native Tongue Title: Proposed Compensation for the Loss of Aboriginal Languages], ''Australian Aboriginal Studies'' 2014/1: 55-71.</ref> Recognizing their vulnerability, the [[United Nations]] proclaimed 2019 the [[International Year of Indigenous Languages]] "to draw attention to the [[Language death|critical loss of indigenous languages]] and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote indigenous languages."<ref>United Nations General Assembly, 71st session, Third Committee, 16 November 2016 [https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/C.3/71/L.17/Rev.1]</ref>

==Disappearance==
Indigenous languages are disappearing for various reasons, including the mass extinction of entire speaker communities by [[natural disaster]] or genocide, aging communities in which the language is not passed on, and oppressive language planning policies that actively seek to eradicate languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=217952|title=Language Death|last=Crystal|first=David| website=[[ProQuest]] |access-date=2019-02-06}}</ref>
In North America since 1600, at least 52 [[Native American languages]] have disappeared. There may be more than 7,000 languages that exist in the world today, though many of them have not been recorded because they belong to tribes in rural areas of the world or are not easily accessible. It is estimated that 6,809 "living" languages exist in the world today, with 90% having fewer than 100,000 speakers. That means that roughly 6,100 languages are facing a risk of eventual extinction. Some languages are very close to disappearing:

<blockquote>Forty six languages are known to have just one native speaker while 357 languages have fewer than 50 speakers. Rare languages are more likely to show evidence of decline than more common ones.<ref>Connor, Steve. "Alarm Raised on World's Disappearing Languages." 15 May 2003. Common Dreams. Org. 21 February 2009 [https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/alarm-raised-on-worlds-disappearing-languages-104768.html].</ref></blockquote>

[[Oklahoma]] provides the backdrop for an example of language loss in the developed world. It boasts the highest density of indigenous languages in the United States. That includes languages originally spoken in the region, as well as those of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes from other areas that were [[Indian removal|forcibly relocated onto reservations]] there.<ref>Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. "''Disappearing Languages - Enduring Voices-Documenting the Planet's Endangered Languages''." 2009. National Geographic. 19 February 2009 {{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/enduringvoices/ |title=Enduring Voices Project, Endangered Languages, Map, Facts, Photos, Videos -- National Geographic |website=[[National Geographic Society]] |access-date=2010-07-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708132439/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/enduringvoices/ |archive-date=2010-07-08}}.</ref> The [[US government]] drove the [[Yuchi]] from [[Tennessee]] to Oklahoma in the early 19th century. Until the early 20th century, most Yuchi tribe members spoke the language fluently. Then, government boarding schools severely punished American Indian students who were overheard speaking their own language. To avoid beatings and other punishments, Yuchi and other Indian children abandoned their native languages in favor of English.

<blockquote>In 2005, only five elderly members of the Yuchi tribe were fluent in the language. These remaining speakers spoke Yuchi fluently before they went to school and have maintained the language despite strong pressure to abandon it.<ref name="nationalgeographic.com">Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. "Disappearing Languages - Enduring Voices-Documenting the Planet's Endangered Languages." 2009. ''National Geographic''. 19 February 2009 {{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/enduringvoices/ |title=Enduring Voices Project, Endangered Languages, Map, Facts, Photos, Videos -- National Geographic |website=[[National Geographic Society]] |access-date=2010-07-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708132439/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/enduringvoices/ |archive-date=2010-07-08}}.</ref></blockquote>

The situation was not limited to Oklahoma. In the Northwest Pacific plateau, there are no speakers left of the indigenous tribal languages from that area all the way to [[British Columbia]].

<blockquote>Oregon's [[Siletz Reservation|Siletz reservation]], established in 1855, was home to the endangered language [[Tolowa language|Siletz Dee-ni]]. The reservation held members of 27 different Indian bands speaking many languages. In order to communicate, people adopted [[Chinook Jargon]], a [[pidgin]] or hybrid language. Between the use of Chinook Jargon and the increased presence of English, the number of speakers of indigenous languages dwindled.<ref name="nationalgeographic.com"/></blockquote>

Other tribes of Native Americans were also forced into government schools and reservations. They were also treated badly if they did not become "civilized," which meant they were to go to Christian churches and speak English. They were forced to give up their tribal religious beliefs and languages. Now, Native Americans are trying to regain some of their lost heritage. They gather at "[[pow-wow]]" to share culture, stories, remedies, dances, music, rhythms, recipes and heritage with anyone who wants to learn them.

<blockquote>In January 2008, in Anchorage, Alaska, friends and relatives gathered to bid their last farewell to 89 year old Marie Smith Jones, a beloved matriarch of her community. "As they bid her farewell, they also bid farewell to the [[Eyak language]] as Marie was the last fluent speaker of the language."<ref>Glavin, Maywa and Montenegro, Terry. "In Defense of Difference." 7 October 2008. ''Seed Magazine''. 29 January 2009 2009 [https://web.archive.org/web/20081011094658/http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2008/10/in_defense_of_difference_1.php].</ref></blockquote>

==Learning==
Hundreds of indigenous languages around the world are taught by traditional means, including vocabulary, grammar, readings, and recordings.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reviews of Language Courses|url=http://lang1234.com|publisher=Lang1234|access-date=11 Sep 2012}}</ref>

About 6,000 others can be learned to some extent by listening to recordings made for other purposes, such as religious texts for which translations are available in more widely-known languages.<ref>{{cite web|title=Countries of the World|url=http://globalrecordings.net/en/countries|publisher=Global Recordings Network|access-date=11 Sep 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=GEOGRAPHIC LANGUAGE MUSEUM|url=http://foreignlanguageexpertise.com/museum2.html|publisher=ForeignLanguageExpertise.com|access-date=11 Sep 2012}}</ref>

=="Treasure language"==
The term "treasure language" was proposed by the [[Rama people]] of Nicaragua as an alternative to [[heritage language]], indigenous language, and "ethnic language" since those names are considered pejorative in the local context.<ref name="Grinevald">{{cite book |last1=Grinevald |first1=Colette |last2=Pivot |first2= Bénédicte |editor-last1=Jones |editor-first1=Mari |editor-last2=Ogilvie |editor-first2=Sarah |title=Keeping Languages Alive: Documentation, Pedagogy and Revitalization |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2013 |chapter=On the revitalization of a ‘treasure language’: The Rama Language Project of Nicaragua |pages=181–197 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/5387106 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139245890.018 |isbn=9781139245890}}</ref> The term is now also used in the context of public storytelling events.<ref>{{cite news |title=Languages Treasured but Not Lost |url=http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/languages-treasured-but-not-lost/Content?oid=4679610 |work=East Bay Express |location=Oakland |date=2016-02-17 |access-date=2017-05-09 }}</ref>

The term "treasure language" references the desire of speakers to sustain the use of their mother tongue into the future:
{{Quote|text=[The] notion of treasure fit the idea of something that had been buried and almost lost, but was being rediscovered and now shown and shared. And the word treasure also evoked the notion of something belonging exclusively to the Rama people, who now attributed it real value and had become eager and proud of being able to show it to others.<ref name="Grinevald"/>}}

Accordingly, the term may be considered to be distinct from [[endangered language]] for which objective criteria are available, or heritage language, which describes an end-state for a language for which individuals are more fluent in a dominant language.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Hale |editor-first1=Kenneth |editor-last2=Hinton |editor-first2=Leanne |title=The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |date=2001}}</ref>

==See also==
[[File:Challenges and needs for developing content in Indigenous Languages in Wikimedia projects.pdf|thumb|''Challenges and needs for developing content in Indigenous Languages'', PDF in [[Wikimedia projects]]]]
*[[Australian Aboriginal languages]]
*[[Formosan languages]]
*[[Language education]]
*[[Linguistic imperialism]]
*[[Minority language]]
*[[Language revitalization]]
*[[International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples]]
*[[Stratum (linguistics)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Frawley, William, & Hill, Kenneth C. (2002) ''Making Dictionaries: preserving indigenous languages of the Americas. Berkeley: [[University of California Press]].
* Harrison, K. David. (2007) ''When Languages Die: the extinction of the world's languages and the erosion of human knowledge''. New York and London: [[Oxford University Press]].
* Singerman, Robert. (1996) ''Indigenous languages of the Americas: a bibliography of dissertations and theses''. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press
* Wurm, S. A. & Heyward, Ian (eds.) (2001) ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger of Disappearing''. Paris: [[UNESCO]] Pub.

==External links==

*[https://www.uaf.edu/anlc/ Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC)]
*[https://ilinative.org/ Indigenous Language Institute]
*[http://www.dnathan.com/VL/austLang.htm Aboriginal Languages of Australia]
*[https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/ ''Austlang: the Australian Indigenous Languages Database at AIATSIS'']
*[https://www.ssila.org/ The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111128225127/http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/cilldi/index.cfm Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indigenous Language}}
[[Category:Indigenous peoples|Language]]
[[Category:Languages by place in society]]
[[Category:Linguistic minorities]]
[[Category:Linguistic rights]]
[[Category:Indigenous rights]]

Indigenous language - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 07:01, 23 August 2023