Speaking in Tongues | The Value of Indigenous Languages

What is the value of preserving indigenous languages?    

         In today’s society, approximately half of the world’s languages are coming face to face with ‘black hole of extinction.' Does it matter? Should we care? The report Back to Babel, published by Time magazine in 1997, examines this globalization concern in light of language extinction and its entanglement with one’s culture, power, and knowledge. Specifically, the article expresses its concerns regarding the critical value that is intertwined when preserving indigenous and aboriginal languages.

            Approximately half of the 6,500 languages that are spoken today are one the verge of extinction or have already reached their destination in the black hole of extinction. With languages dying roughly every two weeks, Stephen Wurm states that “More conflicts have been created between the world’s languages than ever before, causing languages to disappear at an increasing rate.” Furthermore, the uprising pressure that is pushing on the linguistic natural selection of languages is mainly caused by the “economic might, military muscle and cultural prestige of the country in which a language is spoken” (Times Magazine). This pressure is especially noticeable when analyzing the value of preserving indigenous languages from the Pacific basin, which claim over one-fifth of all existing languages. In this case, its pressure arose from European colonization, causing an unstable climate for native languages. For example, before white settlers claimed their first arrival in Australia in 1788, the area spoke approximately 250 tongues. After the settlement, however, indigenous languages decreased to only 20 tongues.

            According to Max Weinreich, “a language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” referring to its protectionism and suited harness that is required from linguistic extinction. Furthermore, languages paint our emotions, grasp our experiences and portray the observations of our surroundings. A language is essentially a crucial and central puzzle piece of a culture’s identity and the lens in which they digest and interpret their environment. Rhonda Inkamala, a language coordinator in Alice Springs, once stated “You feel lost without it, … You feel left out.”. This further illustrates the painful emotion many Aboriginal individuals experience, as the evanesce on their traditional language “leaves a painful gap in their sense of self” (Times Magazine).

            The true value that is gained from preserving these aboriginal languages primarily reliant on the absorbance and studies of their rich vocabularies and poetic beauty. Aboriginal languages are widely known for their rich vocabularies used to express the natural world. The use of evocative imagery further evokes how close Aboriginal clans are interconnected with mother nature. For example, the Ngiyampaa language describes “a bird whose tail twitches like a walu” (Times Magazine). Also, the Arrernte language describes “the smell of rain” with the word nyimpe. In both cases, English does not have a direct translation that can be made. This further settles the enormous gap that is existent between the languages’ poetic beauty in describing nature.

            Furthermore, aboriginal languages also convey significant scientific advances compared to other dominant languages. Due to their close relationship with the earth, Botanists now have the ability to discover new species using the Aboriginal words given to flora and fauna. Therefore, the further existence and preservation of indigenous languages contribute significantly to archeological facts and cultural expressions. As Evans once stated “We can infer a lot about Australia’s ancient past through looking at information furnished by languages. This is lost when the language goes.” (Times Magazine).

            Once an indigenous language goes extinct, much more is lost than simply its tool and service of communication; its cultural expression, vocabulary, poetic beauty, discoveries and scientific advances are also lost in the “black hole of extinction.” The value of aboriginal languages does not solely depend on protecting its existence. Preserving its existence has significant implications and values that are crucial to one’s identity and cultural interpretation, which are necessary for their present and future understanding of the world. While the influence of colonial languages such as English and Spanish hinder the revival of these languages, efforts should be integrated to fight against the tremendous forces of globalization and mass culture.