Linguistic Diversity, Indigenous Languages and why we should care.
Linguistic diversity is a vital part of humanity’s cultural heritage. Indigenous languages, spoken by communities often marginalized or underrepresented, are crucial carriers of unique worldviews, ecological knowledge and traditions. Yet, these languages face an alarming rate of extinction, often due to globalization and socio-economic pressures. Preserving and revitalizing these languages is not just about saving words but safeguarding the identities and wisdom of entire cultures. By valuing linguistic diversity, we uphold human rights, foster cross-cultural understanding, and contribute to a more inclusive and enriched global society.
In the following, I will share some important facts about indigenous languages, their distribution around the globe, and the challenges they are facing.
How many languages are there?
It is assumed that there are currently about 7,000 different languages in the world. These languages are not evenly distributed across the different regions.
1. Asia:
It turns out that the highest number of different languages is spoken in Asia. There are about 2,300 different languages.
2. Africa:
Africa ranks second when it comes to language diversity. It is estimated that 2,100 different languages are spoken on the African continent.
3. Pacific region:
This region includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and all other Pacific islands. About 1,300 different languages are spoken there. Papua New Guinea in particular is known for its great diversity of languages.
4. North and South America:
America is in 4th place when it comes to language diversity. Around 1,000 different languages are spoken there. Especially in Central and South America, there are regions that have a very high density of languages.
5. Europe:
Europe is in 5th place with around 290 languages and is characterized by a lower language diversity.
Why is it so difficult to determine the exact number of languages?
It can’t be that difficult, you might ask? But it is!
One big challenge is to draw a line between dialect and language. When do you call it a new language and when is it still a dialect? How much do you have to understand in order to define another language as a new language? And who should you take as a reference to check understanding? With the help of a standard (ISO 639-3), an attempt is being made to define criteria for classification. But even with the help of standards it is very difficult to draw the boundaries. After all, it is not only possible to use linguistic criteria as a basis. Social and cultural aspects must also be taken into account.
Let’s take German and Dutch as an example. Both languages belong to the Germanic language family. If I ask a German from the south how well he can understand Dutch, he might say around 10 %. But if we ask a German who grew up in the north-west of the country, close to the Netherlands, he might answer 85%. Would Dutch then be a new language for southern Germans and only a dialect for northern Germans?
I hope you can see from this example that the transitions are fluid and can change depending on how you look at them.
With languages that we know very well, such a classification is nevertheless easier to implement than with languages that we don’t know so well, because often there is simply too little scientific data available for an exact classification.
If speakers are interviewed from regions whose languages have not yet been studied down to the smallest detail, then a second problem arises. There are different names for one and the same language. That´s why it is not always easy to determine whether you talk about the same language. One group refers to language X in its own way and another group has a completely different name in use for language X. In such a case, only linguistic research can give a clearer answer.
There are numerous challenges in specifying the exact number of languages. However, since these are also in a state of continuous change, we should be content with the figure of 7000 for the time being.
There are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world.
22 languages are already spoken by half of the world’s population, almost 4 billion people.
There are more than 500 indigenous languages in Latin America.
Half of all languages are spoken by fewer than 7,000 speakers.
What exactly is an indigenous language?
Indigenous languages are the languages originally native to a region and spoken by indigenous groups of the same cultural background. Indigenous languages are spoken all over the world. But in almost all regions of the world, they are endangered, which means they are in the process of dying.
But why are languages dying?
Languages do change and eventually die. This is a natural process. However, this process is progressing disproportionately fast in our time. Indigenous languages, which have only a few speakers, are particularly affected by this.
For example, speakers of a minority language stop using their language and switch to a majority language. Very often, parents stop teaching their children their heritage language, which means that in a short time there are no native speakers left.
There are various reasons for this. Among others, lack of economic prospects, discrimination, missing support and recognition, but also changes in life circumstances or the influence of other languages can result in a change to another language.
But how many languages will remain? Scholars’ opinions differ widely on this. Many say that by the end of our century, about 50% of all languages will be extinct. Others even speak of 90%.
Why should we be interested in this topic?
Indigenous languages hold a great cultural treasure. Not only for science, but they also help us understand what makes us human. They reveal to us a different view of our world than we are used to. These languages provide us with access to a world that has already been lost to most people.
It must also be taken into account that the loss of a language is often not a voluntary process. In many cases, human rights are violated and the speakers of a minority language are deliberately suppressed.
When people give up a language, or are forced to do so, an important part of their cultural identity is often lost.
The less we know about other languages, the more incomplete our view of this world.
And the beauty of this world is the prevailing diversity – not only in linguistic terms.
Two wonderful quotes come to mind, which have been hanging in my office for a long time and which, for me, describe the core of the matter incredibly well:
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”
– Ludwig Wittgenstein
“A different language is a different vision of life.”
– Federico Fellini
