38.4% of the 556 indigenous languages of Latin America and the Caribbean is in danger of disappearing, which is why it is necessary to create a “laboratory for vitality” in order to preserve them, indicates a document from the Ibero-American General Secretariat (Segib), presented in Colombia.
The ‘Latin American Atlas of indigenous languages in danger of disappearance’, prepared by the Ibero-American Institute of Indigenous Languages (Iiali) of the Segib, points out that “To date, the 38.4% of the 556 native languages are at risk and in a critical situation, approximately 18 percentage points more than 15 years ago.”
“The document also highlights that none of them are safe and that at least 66 indigenous languages in the region have fewer than 99 speakers. In Bolivia, for example, at least seven languages, out of (a total of) 33, would have fewer than 10 elderly people who speak, understand or remember them,” added the information.
The Atlas, which is promoted with the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples for Latin America and the Caribbean (Filac) and has the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Aecid), points out that the vulnerability of languages is mainly related to three factors.
These are “racism and discrimination against indigenous people, societies and knowledge; failure by the State to comply with current legislation (which should protect, promote and make them visible); and the interruption of the intergenerational transmission of languages”.
For the coordinator of the Atlas proposal, Luis Enrique López-Hurtado, the updating of this document “It is necessary for countries and governments, as well as indigenous organizations, to make appropriate decisions about the future of their languages, which preserve that wealth of knowledge that indigenous peoples transmit.”
Faced with this critical situation, the Iiali proposes the creation of a laboratory to revitalize the languages of the native peoples, which they consider necessary to promote an exchange between the different proposals of this type that exist in the region.
“The good news is that since the last atlas of 2009, the cultural and linguistic revitalization initiatives of indigenous societies have been increasing day by day, particularly due to the decision of key actors in the linguistic communities,” López-Hurtado added.
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Source: Gestion
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