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Why all languages are important
The editorial of Rozenn Milin
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Some may say “a website on endangered languages across the globe, what a strange idea!” At a time when the trend is to learn English, Chinese or Arabic, worrying about those “small” languages from far away lands and cultures may seem futile…|
In many places around the world, especially those that are geographical, commercial or cultural crossroads numerous languages of all sorts are often spoken side-by-side without causing the slightest problem. People in these areas are often as at ease with French, English or Spanish, as they are with Yoruba, Gbari, Shina or Burushaski. Indeed, all of this linguistic variety is not at all incompatible: one may communicate in widely spoken languages while continuing to take an interest in less widespread ones. What is actually at stake here is diversity, and the writer Victor Ségalen’s phrase, highlghted on the banner of our website, states it quite simply: when diversity shrinks, so does humanity. If one day the world came to speak but one single language, eat the same type of food, dress in the same manner, and think the same way, it would then offer but one cultural model — and we would mourn the corresponding loss of diversity. Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen! |
