196 Indian languages endangered, experts to mull revival (fwd link)

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196 Indian languages endangered, experts to mull revival

2009-10-21 17:50:00
India

Some 196 Indian languages are endangered, according to a recent Unesco study,
and a worried lot of linguists, scholars and policy-makers are meeting in a
two-day international seminar here Thursday to discuss how to save these
language.

'According to the 'Unesco Atlas of the World's languages in Danger, 2009', India
has around 196 endangered languages, among the highest in the world,' said
Kamalini Sengupta from Intach Intangible Heritage Division, which is organising
the seminar.

'Intach has decided to place endangered languages in our priority area. But to
gain a proper perspective and move in a positive direction, the situation needs
careful study,' Sengupta added.

For this purpose, an international seminar on endangered languages in India will
be organised at the India International Centre.

Scholars like Kapila Vatsyayan as well as linguists and educators will all
discuss issues threatening these languages, a large chunk of which are regional
and tribal languages ignored by the growing English and Hindi speaking masses.

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