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https://theconversation.com/we-are-on-the-brink-of-losing-indigenous-languages-in-australia-could-schools-save-them-184736>
"Of the world’s 7,000 languages, it is estimated 50% to 90% will no longer be
spoken in the next 50 to 100 years. The majority under threat are languages
spoken by Indigenous peoples around the world: one is lost every two weeks.
One of the world’s fastest rates of language loss is in Australia. Indigenous
languages in Australia comprise only 2% of languages spoken in the world, but
represent 9% of the world’s critically endangered languages.
More than 250 Indigenous languages and over 750 dialects were originally
spoken. However, as some experts estimate, only 40 languages are still spoken,
with just 12 being learned by children.
First Nations educator Jacquie Hunter, who contributed to this article, has
worked at One Arm Point Remote Community School in Ardiyooloon in Australia’s
northwest for 17 years. She told us “kids know words, but not sentences” of
their Bardi language. She estimates within the next few years, “we won’t have
any more fluent speakers around to teach us those full sentences in our
language”.
This is a pattern repeated in Indigenous communities nationwide.
Linguists have long recognised this urgency and policy-makers have recently
begun to take action. Most notably, this year marks the start of the United
Nations’ International Decade of Indigenous Languages (following on from 2019’s
International Year of Indigenous Languages).
It aims to draw global attention to the critical endangerment of indigenous
languages, and engage stakeholders and resources for their preservation,
revitalisation, and promotion."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
