Mongolian language races against the test of time
Language is definitely an inseparable aspect of culture and the immunity of a nation. Political activist Ts.Baatarkhuu believes that language is more than just heritage as “people, language and tongue” are the “three pillars” of the independence of a country. He says that if the people do not have a tongue (if they do not speak up), then the country would not be considered politically independent. Likewise, if the people do not have a language, then it would mean that the people are not mentally free.
Mongolians have taken in such statements and have become fearful of the future of the Mongolian language. The public acts upon this by being critical of Latin letters being used on restaurant menus and billboards, Mongolians speaking in English with each other and foreign words being used within traditional and social media content.
Famed linguist John McWhorter estimates the 6,000 languages spoken today will dwindle to only 600 by the next century. This shocking statement took the world by storm and his words are quoted on reports, opinion pieces and other media. McWhorter argues that the extinction of languages is a good thing because this is part of a process that will confer economic and health benefits to the affected speakers.
He believes that the majority of threatened languages are those spoken by isolated indigenous groups, and that their languages are a driving force of their isolation. The language barriers prevents the absorption of such groups into the larger society and this often leaves those affected in significantly worse economic conditions than their neighbors that speak the majority language.
UNESCO predicts that half of all languages will be gone by the end of this century because over 2,000 of the world’s 7,000 languages have fewer than 1,000 native speakers according to data from the UN. By way of illusion Papua New Guinea has the most number of spoken languages (852), followed by Indonesia (742), Nigeria (516), and India (426). Additionally, Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Each tribe, region and island speaks different languages and it is difficult for the people in the region to communicate with each other.
Unfortunately, it is clear that the most of these languages will go extinct and with it so will a large part of their oral history, heritage and culture. Statuses of languages in Papua New Guinea are listed as critically endangered and severely endangered with many of them having less than a hundred speakers.
The Mongolian language has about 10 million speakers according to Discover Mongolia. This of course includes the different dialects of Khalkha, Buryat, and Inner Mongolia. Still, in comparison to the example of Papua New Guinea, it can be said that the survival of the Mongol language is looking much better.
As long as there are people alive that use it, a language will not simply fade into the abyss. Yet, the lack of significance given to preservation of languages on the global arena can deteriorate the richness of a language, demoting it to simpler conversation. Throughout the world’s history, many languages went extinct and this is a somewhat normal occurrence. As civilizations decline, so does the knowledge about their culture. In spite of this, due to various factors such as globalization and economic factors, this phenomenon of cultural decline is spreading at a drastic amount.
Languages of nations with strong economic forces have been growing more dominant over others perceptably since the age of imperialism. The dominance of a language is especially seen in the languages most scientific papers are produced in. When it comes to the natural sciences, Mongolia used to produce its papers in Mongolian first and translate it into English, but now the contrary is the norm.
It is not the fault of researchers or scientists, but it simply has to do with the fact that unless it is written in English, the study will not make it internationally. There is an estimate that within the next 20 years, all natural science reports will be written in English.
Japanese researcher and Mongolist Tanaka Katsuhiko believes the only thing that will determine the durability of a language in the long term is the people themselves. In order to hold on to the language and culture, the different ethnicities of Mongolia need to unite language-wise. Otherwise, the significance of the language will weaken over time.
The different ethnic groups separated by the borders of Mongolia, China and Russia use three to four different languages and writing when it comes to structure and grammar. Inner Mongolians use the script and Buryat region and Mongolia use Cyrillic to write, which makes the rules of the written and spoken language very different as well.
For words such as “enkh” and “sar”, it is pronounced as “enkh-e” and “sar-a” but the suffixes are not added in Mongolian, but it is for Buryat and Inner Mongolian. The Mongolian language sees the absent vowel pronunciations as self explanatory and therefore it is not added.
For a brief moment in the 1920s, Latin letters were used for written Mongolian, but this did not last due to political influences. The way Tanaka sees it is that strict language and grammar rules are not suited for the Mongolian language. Back when Mongolian script was being used, all the ethnic groups would read and understand it the same way, but the people spoke it in their different dialects.
When language rules are applied to Mongolian, it only expresses one dialect. It is now too late for Mongolians to transfer into the script. Lastly, the Japanese researcher believes that all ethnic groups of Mongolia should create a new written language composed of Latin letters.