By Thair Shaikh, CNN. August 13, 2010 1:21 p.m. EDT

London, England (CNN) — A British anthropologist is setting out on a year-long stay with a small community in Greenland in an ambitious attempt to document its dying language and traditions.

Stephen Pax Leonard will live with the Inughuit in north-west Greenland, the world’s most northernmost people, and record their conversations and story-telling traditions to try and preserve their language.

The Inughuit, who speak Inuktun, a “pure” Inuit dialect, are under increasing political and climactic pressure to move south, says Leonard.

“They have around 10 to 15 years left in their present location, then climate change and politics will force them to move south and they will be assimilated into a different culture, into a broader community, and their way of life will be lost,” Leonard told CNN.

Leonard, who flies out to Copenhagen on Sunday before heading to Greenland, says there are about 1,000 speakers of Inuktun, an undocumented language.

Although most Inughuit are trilingual, also speaking Danish and Greenlandic, their primary language is still Inuktun.
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Santiago de Chile, 13 jul (PL) Las cuatro lenguas indígenas vivas existentes en Chile han sobrevivido gracias a la resistencia de sus propios hablantes, sostuvo hoy el vicerrector de la Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), Rodrigo Vidal.

Al inaugurar el Primer Congreso de las Lenguas Indígenas de Chile, dijo que sólo sobreviven en el país el Mapudungun, el Quechua, el Aymara y el Rapa Nui, pero destacó la importancia de rescatar “las lenguas indígenas como riquezas del patrimonio de la nación”.

La coordinadora regional del Programa Educación Bilingüe en la sureña región del Biobío, Marianela Cartes, resaltó que el Congreso -al que asisten más de 300 personas- contribuye a “visibilizar la diversidad cultural de este país que muchas veces esta negada”.

Bajo el lema “Yo aprendo y yo hablo lengua indígena”, los delegados informaron sobre la situación actual de los diferentes pueblos autóctonos para fortalecer el movimiento indígena, sensibilizar a la sociedad chilena, proponer medidas jurídicas y establecer redes sociales.

A su vez, la coordinadora nacional del Programa Intercultural Bilingüe del Ministerio de Educación, Alicia Salinas, dijo que “para el mundo de la enseñanza de las lenguas indígenas es vital el apoyo de las universidades, porque contribuyen a formalizar la enseñanza de la lengua y además abrirse hacia la interculturalidad”.

La académica Elisa Loncón, del Departamento de Educación de la USACH, criticó la poca valoración de las lenguas indígenas, que influye -precisó- en los resultados académicos de los escolares, porque los profesores no tienen herramientas y no están formados para enseñar las lenguas madres.

Source: http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=205502&Itemid=1

JOSÉ LUIS ARANDA – Madrid – 17/06/2010

Aunque parezca complicado, hay un país en el que cantar el himno es casi más difícil que en España. El pasado 11 de junio Sudáfrica inauguró su Mundial y el himno nacional sonó ante millones de telespectadores en todo el mundo. ¿Cuántos se dieron cuenta de que las 80.000 personas que abarrotaban el estadio Soccer City de Johanesburgo tuvieron que cambiar hasta cinco veces de lengua para entonar la canción al unísono? ¿Cuántos sabían que Sudáfrica tiene 11 lenguas oficiales? ¿Sabías que entre esas nueve lenguas no se encuentra el korana, que según la Unesco no hablan más de seis personas y es un firme candidato a unirse a la lista de idiomas extintos? ¿Cómo sobrevive y cómo muere una lengua?

A principios de este año, medios de todo el mundo celebraron un funeral por el idioma bo cuando la última hablante de esa tribu de las islas Andamán (India) falleció a los 85 años. Sin embargo, la lingüista Colette Grinevald, con cuatro décadas de experiencia de trabajo con lenguas indígenas americanas, pone en duda el concepto de último hablante: “Es un mito para periodistas, nunca se sabe cuál es la última persona que habla una lengua porque los últimos hablantes se esconden al ser una lengua despreciada”. Grinevald (Argel, 1947) recuerda los primeros manifiestos a favor del plurilingüismo en los 80 y asegura que los lingüistas llegaron “con 20 años de retraso respecto a los biólogos” en la defensa de la diversidad. De vuelta a 2010, los programas se han multiplicado, pero no está claro que la ayuda sea suficiente y los expertos estiman que más de la mitad de las 6.000 lenguas que se hablan en el mundo están amenazadas.
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México, 18 jun (EFE).- De las 364 variantes lingüísticas indígenas que existen en México, el diez por ciento está en riesgo de desaparecer debido a la discriminación que sufren los miembros de estas comunidades, según fuentes oficiales.

El director general adjunto del Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI), Fabricio Gaxiola, explicó en entrevista con Efe que las 364 variantes lingüísticas mencionadas derivan de las 68 lenguas indígenas nacionales que fueron catalogadas como tales en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el 14 de enero de 2008.

De acuerdo con estudios respaldados en textos escritos por frailes, cronistas y viajeros, en el territorio de México antes de la conquista española (1519-1521) existieron alrededor de 200 lenguas, y desde la época colonial hasta nuestros días habrían desaparecido unas 141 lenguas, calificadas por los expertos como agrupaciones lingüísticas.

El término de agrupaciones lingüísticas fue establecido en el Catálogo de Lenguas Indígenas Nacionales del INALI como el conjunto de variantes del lenguaje que hablan los grupos étnicos en el país.

Algunos ejemplos de dichas agrupaciones lingüísticas extintas son el potlapigu, guazapar, mocorito, ocoroni, acaxee, sayulteco, zacateca, ure, himeri, vigitega, chinarra, zuaque, sabaibo, cocoa, tecuexe y ahome.

Gaxiola aseguró que la “la discriminación” es el motivo principal de la extinción de estas lenguas y añadió que lo más grave es que los propios discriminados aceptan esta situación, “pues ni a los niños les interesa aprender su propia lengua porque saben que cuando vayan a la escuela o a una simple tienda los van a reprimir”.
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Onsdag 02. juni 2010, kl. 05:00. Av Steinar Nilsen, forsker, Senter for Samiske studier, UiT

Kan man si at det er kunnskap i ord, eller hva er egentlig forholdet mellom kunnskap og ord? Dette spørsmålet kan tilnærmes på mange måter. Jeg vil her ta opp noen aspekter som har å gjøre med lokal økologisk kunnskap, ettersom det er relevant for min forskning.

Spørsmålet om språks betydning har aktualitet i dagens verden med hurtige endringer. Stadig flere dyre- og plantearter forsvinner. Flere og flere av verdens språk dør ut. Samtidig forsvinner også lokal kunnskap og deler av verdensarven. Mange mener at hvert språk står for et unikt perspektiv på verden og at et samfunns kunnskap er så vevd inn i språket at det ofte ikke går an å skille mellom språk og kunnskap. Hvordan det henger sammen er ikke innlysende, ettersom dominerende språkteorier har vektlagt at språk er systemer uavhengig av verden. Et mer praktisk spørsmål, hvis det er riktig at det finnes kunnskap i språk, er hvordan vi best kan dokumentere kunnskapen som fins i et gitt språk.

At vi med språk viderefører og formidler kunnskap skjønner vi jo, men et spørsmål er altså også om man kan si at kunnskap ligger i selve språket? Mange folk i tradisjonelle samfunn legger vekt på betydningen av ordene i språket. Å være god i et språk kan for dem gjerne bety at man kan mange av de gamle ordene. Hvorfor ser de på de gamle ordene som verdifulle? Kan det være at de opplever at viktig kunnskap går tapt når ordene forsvinner?

Ord har som vi vet, betydninger. En inngangsport til forståelse av forholdet mellom språk og verden, kan være å ta utgangspunkt i såkalte begrep. Når mennesker tenker på verden eller ser verden, mener vi at vi ser forskjellige ”ting” eller ”fenomener”. Hvilke ting vi sanser i verden ligger i våre begreper. Språkets ord eller termer uttrykker altså begrep. Språkene er forskjellig i måten de ”deler opp” verden.
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A l’occasion de la semaine de l’Afrique, organisée par l’Unesco, le programme Sorosoro, pour la préservation des langues en danger, présente les vidéos de son dernier tournage au Sénégal.

Nombreux sont les Africains polyglottes, et la semaine de l’Afrique est bien l’occasion de mettre en valeur la grande richesse linguistique de ce continent.

Sorosoro est un projet de sauvegarde des langues menacées, lancé en 2008 par la Fondation Chirac. Grâce à de nombreuses vidéos mises en ligne, les langues en danger sont arrachées à l’oubli. Le site permet à tous, de manière ludique, de s’essayer à quelques mots en punu ou en akélé (langues du Gabon)…des couleurs aux insultes, il y en a pour tous les goûts! Il offre aussi aux Africains du monde entier la possibilité de renouer avec la langue de leurs racines.

Dernièrement, c’est vers le Sénégal que l’équipe de Sorosoro s’est envolée, en collaboration avec Sénélangues, un projet du CNRS. Et c’est pour cette semaine consacrée à la culture africaine que les premières vidéos ont été mises en lignes! Ne manquez pas ces images aux couleurs chatoyantes et surtout les sons mélodieux de la langue baynunk!

Source: http://www.agoravox.fr/culture-loisirs/culture/article/comment-sauver-les-langues-75491

Wendy Stueck, From Monday’s Globe and Mail. Published on Sunday, May. 02, 2010 9:12PM EDT

Indigenous languages in British Columbia are at risk of disappearing as the number of fluent speakers dwindles and school and community language programs struggle to keep them alive, says a new report.

Of 32 languages identified in the study, all are endangered and three are “sleeping,” with no known living speakers, says the Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages 2010.

“All provinces are in the same boat, but in B.C., the situation is worse because we have so many languages,” said Lorna Williams, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Learning at the University of Victoria and who contributed to the recently released report.

The study, based on community surveys, found fluent speakers accounted for 5.1 per cent of the more than 100,000 members covered by the report and that most of those speakers were over 65.

A larger percentage, 8.2 per cent, identified themselves as “semi-fluent,” but the level of fluency varied widely.

The report was released by The First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council, a provincial crown corporation founded in 1990 with a mandate to preserve native language and culture. B.C. is home to 60 per cent of the indigenous languages in Canada, with 32 languages and roughly 59 dialects, the group said.
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April 28, 2010, 2:02 PM

An article on the Web site of The Times this afternoon describes the efforts of the Endangered Language Alliance at the City University of New York to track down New Yorkers who speak languages that are not only rare here but may be falling extinct in their homelands, too.

Which led us to wonder: What are the least-spoken languages in New York? While no such census data is available at the city level, the census’ American Community Survey has statewide figures. The survey asks residents what languages other than English they speak at home. These were the least common answers:

1. Cayuga: 6 speakers
2. Eskimo languages: 7
3. Delaware: 9
4. Iroquois: 10
5. Kusaiean (spoken on Kosrae Island, Micronesia): 10
6. Mohave: 13
7. Algonquin: 13
8. Kachin (spoken in northeast Myanmar) : 22
9. Pangasinan (spoken in northwest Philippines): 22
10. Pidgin: 22
11. Zuni: 24
12. Kazakh: 26
13. Faroese (spoken on the Faroe islands off Denmark): 27
14. Inupik (an Eskimo language): 29
15. Cajun: 31
16. Achinese (spoken in Aceh, western Sumatra): 32
17. Mayan: 35
18. Tungus (spoken in Siberia and northeastern China): 36
19. Rhaeto-Romanic (spoken in parts of Switzerland): 39
20. Ponapean (spoken on Pohnpei Island, Micronesia): 40
21. Muskogee: 40

Source (with video): http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/land-of-lonely-tongues/?ref=nyregion

By SAM ROBERTS. Published: April 28, 2010

The chances of overhearing a conversation in Vlashki, a variant of Istro-Romanian, are greater in Queens than in the remote mountain villages in Croatia that immigrants now living in New York left years ago.

At a Roman Catholic Church in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, Mass is said once a month in Garifuna, an Arawakan language that originated with descendants of African slaves shipwrecked near St. Vincent in the Caribbean and later exiled to Central America. Today, Garifuna is virtually as common in the Bronx and in Brooklyn as in Honduras and Belize.

And Rego Park, Queens, is home to Husni Husain, who, as far he knows, is the only person in New York who speaks Mamuju, the Austronesian language he learned growing up in the Indonesian province of West Sulawesi. Mr. Husain, 67, has nobody to talk to, not even his wife or children.

“My wife is from Java, and my children were born in Jakarta — they don’t associate with the Mamuju,” he said. “I don’t read books in Mamuju. They don’t publish any. I only speak Mamuju when I go back or when I talk to my brother on the telephone.”

These are not just some of the languages that make New York the most linguistically diverse city in the world. They are part of a remarkable trove of endangered tongues that have taken root in New York — languages born in every corner of the globe and now more commonly heard in various corners of New York than anywhere else.
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By Leigh Montgomery and Elizabeth Ryan, Staff / April 27, 2010

The following 18 languages were last known to have one remaining speaker. They are the most at-risk languages on a list of 199 classified in the United Nations Atlas of Endangered Languages as critically endangered, meaning they have fewer than 10 documented speakers.

Regions with the most linguistic diversity also tend to have the most endangered languages.

1. Apiaka is spoken by the indigenous people of the same name who live in the northern state of Mato Grosso in Brazil. The critically endangered language belongs to the Tupi language family. As of 2007, there was one remaining speaker.

2. Bikya is spoken in the North-West Region of Cameroon, in western Africa. The last record of a speaker was in 1986, meaning the language could now be extinct. This predicament resembles that of another Cameroon language, Bishuo, whose last recorded speaker was also in 1986.

3. Chana is spoken in Parana, the capital of Argentina’s province of Entre Rios. As of 2008, it had only one speaker.

4. Dampal is spoken in Indonesia, near Bangkir. Unesco reported that it had one speaker as of 2000.

5. Diahoi (also known as Jiahui, Jahoi, Djahui, Diahkoi, and Diarroi) is spoken in Brazil. Those who speak it live on the indigenous lands Diahui, Middle Madeira river, Southern Amazonas State, Municipality of Humaita. As of 2006, one speaker was left.
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By PATRICIA COHEN. Published: April 5, 2010

As far as the records show, no one has spoken Shinnecock or Unkechaug, languages of Long Island’s Indian tribes, for nearly 200 years. Now Stony Brook University and two of the Indian nations are initiating a joint project to revive these extinct tongues, using old documents like a vocabulary list that Thomas Jefferson wrote during a visit in 1791.

The goal is language resuscitation and enlisting tribal members from this generation and the next to speak them, said representatives from the tribes and Stony Brook’s Southampton campus.

Chief Harry Wallace, the elected leader of the Unkechaug Nation, said that for tribal members, knowing the language is an integral part of understanding their own culture, past and present.

“When our children study their own language and culture, they perform better academically,” he said. “They have a core foundation to rely on.”

The Long Island effort is part of a wave of language reclamation projects undertaken by American Indians in recent years. For many tribes language is a cultural glue that holds a community together, linking generations and preserving a heritage and values. Bruce Cole, the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which sponsors language preservation programs, has called language “the DNA of a culture.”
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