FROM THE time of our birth and the day when we start to speak, the first language that we speak is our mother language. Language plays an important role in the life of any human being as it the basis mode of communication or conversation with others. There are more than 6,000 spoken languages in the world but most of them are under threat of being extinct, due to some of the powerful languages of the world. Out of approximately 6,000 existing languages in the world, 199 languages have fewer than 10 speakers and 178 others have 10 to 50. Such data can be found in the new edition of UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, presented in Paris on the eve of International Mother Language Day.

Some of the data are especially worrying: Out of the approximately 6,000 existing languages in the world, more than 200 have become extinct during the last three generations, 538 are critically endangered, 502 severely endangered, 632 definitely endangered and 607 unsafe.

For example, the Atlas states that 199 languages have fewer than ten speakers and 178 others have 10 to 50. Among the languages that have recently become extinct, it mentions Manx (Isle of Man), which died out in 1974, when Ned Maddrell fell forever silent, Aasax (Tanzania), which disappeared in 1976, Ubykh (Turkey) in 1992, with the demise of Tevfik Esenà and Eyak (Alaska, United States of America), in 2008 with the death of Marie Smith Jones.

As UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura stressed, “The death of a language leads to the disappearance of many forms of intangible cultural heritage, especially the invaluable heritage of traditions and oral expressions of the community that spoke it from poems and legends to proverbs and jokes. The loss of languages is also detrimental to humanity grasp of biodiversity, as they transmit much knowledge about the nature and the universe.

Since 1999, 21st February was proclaimed as International Mother Language by UNESCO. The day is important for the nations, which are rich in linguistics. In India there are many languages spoken by its people. The North East region of India is richer in the linguistic diversity as there are many languages and dialects used by the indigenous people living in this part of the world. It is interesting to know that state like Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh have different dialects amongst different tribes and the diversity is such that some time one does not understand the language of dialects of the other community though they live in the same state. Like North East India the other part of India, which has seen threat to language is the Andaman Islands. Aka-Jeru (also known as Jeru, Yerawa) is a Great Andamanese language, there is some dispute as to whether Jeru is extinct or not. But report from different sources says that there are not more than 20 speakers of this language.

More study is needed in India related to languages and their preservation. Papua New Guinea has the greatest linguistic diversity on the planet (more than 800 languages are believed to be spoken there). There is no doubt that the North East India shall be the region with most diversity in languages or dialects.

It is always important for the young people to learn their mother or native language. But most of the time it has been seen that for a better career we learn some of the powerful languages. It is always good for us to know more and more languages but we need to preserve our own language. The observance of International Mother Language day on February 21, has become an important date in the areas or places where there is diversity in languages have been monitored. Different programmes have been planned around the world on this day. Let us take some step and extend our support for the conservation of languages so that no language disappears from our country and the big challenge lies with the young people.