INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY

Since 2000, the International Mother Language Day is celebrated on the 21st of February. The UNESCO General Conference accepted the proposal made by Bangladesh to dedicate a day to recognize the Mother Language. It is a public holiday in Bangladesh which also happens to be the anniversary of the day when Bangladeshis fought for the recognition of Bangla language. The United Nations Mother Language Day proclamation states “Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue”.

Language is defined as a system that consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance and use of communication. One aspect of this definition sees language as a mental faculty that allows humans to learn languages and to produce and understand utterances. This stresses the universality of language and it emphasizes the biological basis for the human capacity for language as a unique development of the human brain. Another aspect sees language as a formal system of signs governed by grammatical rules of combination to communicate meaning. Language is also seen as a system of communication that enables humans to exchange verbal or symbolic utterances. “The development of language is part of the development of the personality, for words are the natural means of expressing thoughts and establishing understanding between people” said Maria Montessori.

According to Ethnologue the top 5 most widely spoken languages by ‘ first language’ speakers are Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic and Hindi in that order. However, the order differs if we consider the most spoken languages according to the total number of people who speak them, whether the language is their mother tongue or not. English takes the top spot followed by Chinese. The next three are Hindi, Spanish & French in that order. About 1.2 billion people or one in six people in the world speak Chinese. English contin- ues to have popularity with business, travel and international relations. There are six official languages of the UN. These are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

There are about 7000 languages in the world. But about a third of these languages are now facing extinction, often with less than 1,000 speakers remaining. Only 23 languages account for more than half the world’s population. Globalization may be one of the reasons for the threat of disappearing languages. It is said that every two weeks a language disappears taking with it an entire cultural heritage.

Three of the languages which had a huge influence on the growth of other languages but do not have a major role to play in today’s world are Sanskrit, Latin & Ancient Greek. Some consider Sanskrit as the mother of all languages. But nowadays it has no native speakers except for some scholars familiar with this language. Similarly, Latin’s influence in Europe and its languages is enormous. However, it’s pure spoken and written form is almost non-existent. Coptic is an ancient Egyptian language written with Greek characters which is hardly used now. UNESCO is convinced that the extinction of any language means an irrecoverable loss. UNESCO has taken steps to safeguard endangered languages because:

humanity developed and needs diversity; languages reflect past experiences;

languages are tools for socializing and for expressing and transmitting social and cultural practices;

languages contribute to human knowl

edge;

languages are amazingly rich and

diverse products of the creativity of the

human mind;

languages attribute and confirm identity and are precious to their speakers.

It was Nelson Mandela who said “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”. Michael Zimmerman writing on the importance of promoting and preserving languages states ‘When we lose a language, we lose the worldview, culture and knowledge of the people who spoke it, constituting a loss to all humanity. People around the world live in direct contact with their native environment, their habitat. When the language they speak goes extinct, the rest of humanity loses their knowledge of that environment, their wisdom about the relationship between local plants and illness, their philosophical and religious beliefs as well as their native cultural expression in music, visual art and poetry that has enriched both the speakers of that language and others who would have encountered that culture.’

Audrey Azoulay, the Director- General of UNESCO in her message states “A language is far more than a means of communication; it is the very condition of our humanity. Our values, our beliefs and our identity are embedded within it. It is through language that we transmit our experiences, our traditions and our knowledge. The diversity of languages reflects the incontestable wealth of our imaginations and ways of life”. Taking up the invitation of the UNESCO to celebrate the linguistic diversity and multilingualism that make up the living wealth of the world, the Overseas School of Colombo has organized a variety of educational and cultural initiatives. According to Raina Lockwood, the teacher in charge of the Mother- tongue programme in the school, the day will commence with a special assembly where presentations and performances take place in Sinhala, Hindi, Korean, French, Mandarin, Japanese and Divehi, which is the Maldivian language. A special presentation will be made on Aramaic, which is an endangered language. It is an ancient Middle Eastern language similar to Hebrew. Thereafter, the native speakers of different languages in the parent community will have sessions with small groups of students to celebrate linguistic diversity and to promote multilingual education.

Let us do our bit to preserve our languages through proper educational direction of younger generations, appropriate documentation of linguistic material and creating awareness and thereby appreciation towards cultural heritage. R.N.A. de Silva ndesilva@osc.lk The author is a member of the faculty of the Overseas School of Colombo.