Mexico's Indigenous Dialects Disappearing (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

Mexico's Indigenous Dialects Disappearing

Published July 17, 2012
Associated Press

Mexico City –  Mexico once was a place filled with languages.

Pockets of indigenous groups had their own dialects, preserving the
culture and language of past generations.

But those languages are dying.

Sixty-four of Mexico's 364 Indian dialects are at "high risk" of dying
out, with less than 100 speakers of each remaining, the head of the
country's National Institute of Indian Languages said Tuesday.

Institute head Javier Lopez Sanchez said that in many cases, speakers
of dying dialects are dispersed and no longer live in a single
community.

Lopez Sanchez said many parents aren't passing their languages on to
their children, and in communities in Mexico's north, Indian children
may have a passive understanding of their parent's language but are
unwilling or unable to speak it.


Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2012/07/17/mexico-indigenous-dialects-disappearing/#ixzz2116tOLPI