A recent study indicates that as many as 40% of the languages spoken globally today
A recent study indicates that as many as 40% of the languages spoken globally today are at risk of disappearing within the next five decades.
A study by the United Nations has found that about 36 languages disappear every year. Of the classical languages, only Tamil and Mandarin continue to exist and be used publicly; the others have become obsolete in daily life and in recent memory.
An initiative known as the Endangered Languages Project has been developed with Google’s support to safeguard disappearing languages. (A more in-depth overview is included in the Comments section.)
On Ceylon Island, these following languages are at critical risk:
1. Sinhala Malay
2. Sinhala Sign Language
3. Veddah
All three are in an advanced stage of assimilation into the Sinhala language and are nearing extinction.
Although Tamil is not critically endangered presently, the infiltration of 25 to 30 percent foreign elements (regionally; Hindi & English) poses a dire challenge and pushes the Tamil language towards extinction, should this trend continues unchecked, it will erode Tamil’s classical foundations, endanger its unique linguistic and ethnic identity and the damage would become irreversible.
The question of how Tamil is transmitted to the third and fourth generations within the Tamil diasporas is no longer optional—it is critical.
If structured and urgent steps are not taken, the third and fourth generations will grow up with only fragments of the language—if any at all.
It is a matter of critical concern that Tamil language is disappearing from the everyday conversations of children within their own homes. When siblings no longer use Tamil language with each other, it indicates the language is not just declining—the Tamil ethnic identity is vanishing in real time.
Ilanganathan Kuganathan
தயாளன் மொழிபெயர்த்தார். / Translated by Dayalan.
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