'Voices' seeks to preserve languages (fwd)

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'Voices' seeks to preserve languages

© Indian Country Today August 02, 2005. All Rights Reserved
Posted: August 02, 2005
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411318

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - In an effort to preserve thousands of vanishing
languages around the world, the global ''Voices of the World'' project
aims to build awareness of the diversity of mankind through a worldwide
documentary film and media project.

Linguists calculate that one language is lost every two weeks and most
are indigenous peoples' languages. When each one vanishes, a method of
expression, a way of looking at the world and the means of carrying
forward ceremonies and traditional prayers disappears.

''The peoples of the world speak over 6,500 separate languages. Each
language employs a vocabulary and a grammar that is unique to the
communities that use them. Each reflects cultures that are equally
unique, rich in folklore, history and humanity,'' said Voices of the
World project manager Signe Byrge Sorensen.

''We want to portray the peoples of the world, giving face and voice to
each culture and empowering every

language community to speak. The goal of Voices of the World is to
strengthen our global mutual belonging.''

In the current era of globalization and telecommunications, most of the
6,500 languages have come under threat. A surprisingly large number,
about 50 percent, will probably not survive this century. Many are
already in terminal decline.

Voices of the Worlds, a nonprofit initiative of UNESCO's Goodwill
Ambassador for Languages Vigdis Finnbogadott?r, is based on an original
idea by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Janus Billeskov-Jansen.
Billeskov-Jansen has received support from the Danish government, the
United Nations and leading linguists from all over the world.

The springboard for the project will be in October 2005, in connection
with the United Nation's 60th anniversary. Nordic public service
television stations are already committed to this broadcast. The
project is presently working on similar arrangements with other
European and international TV stations.

Targeted for a global audience, the project will include documentary
film segments, including interviews from indigenous peoples describing
what it feels like to lose one's mother tongue. The film will identify
the stages of language loss from endangerment to the point of
vanishing.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, speaking in his native tongue of
Fante on the film, shared his concern for cultural and linguistic
diversity: ''What could be a better way to pay homage to the United
Nations on the occasion of its 60th anniversary than to stress the
value of cultural and linguistic diversity of the peoples of the world?
After all, by celebrating the diversity of human culture we only
strengthen the dialogue among civilizations, an idea rooted in the
fundamental United Nations values.''

Diversity of languages is found around the world. In Australia, there
are 250 languages, while in Mexico there are 240 and in Brazil, 210.
However, in Europe there are only 3 percent of the world's languages.
China has 21.5 percent of the world's population and 8.6 percent of the
world's area, but holds a mere 2.6 percent of the world's languages.

Some of the poorest nations in the world have the most diverse
languages. Seventy percent of the world's languages are gathered in
only 20 nations, primarily in two zones. One spans from the West
African coast through the Congo to East Africa. The other runs from
southern India and the southeastern Asian peninsula through the
Indonesian islands to New Guinea and the Pacific.

Voices of the World is reaching out to indigenous filmmakers and media
around the world for footage. The topics for the documentary include
the language generation gap and expressions from the last speakers of a
language.

The issue of language suppression because of economic, social, political
and cultural reasons is being examined and how people cope when their
language is not given space in the public sphere.

Further, the film project examines language and technology, how speakers
of endangered languages are affected by globalization and the new
information technology. The project is seeking success stories as well,
including language revitalization, revealing steps taken to halt
language loss in a community.

After the film is finished, all of the footage collected and shot for
the Voices of the World project will be handed over to the Vigdis
Finnbogadott?r Institute of Foreign Languages at the University of
Iceland. The aim of Voices of the World and the university is to create
a database of all the world's languages, accessible to everybody via the
Internet.

For more information, e-mail Signe Byrge S?rensen at byrge at final-cut.dk.