Deutsche Welle Persian – 02/22/2011
Nearly half of the world's languages are at risk of extinction. The death of each language signifies the loss of a rich collection of culture, history, and traditions of a group of people. UNESCO has designated February 21 as the day to support mother languages.
Language reflects the culture of the people who speak it, represents their identity, and describes their worldview. Like a living organism, language thrives with the people who use it, helping them express and understand their world, and sometimes, it dies. In short, language is alive as long as its speakers live. This brings the term mother language to mind—a term that might initially seem straightforward but becomes less so upon closer inspection.
Mother language is often defined as the first language a child learns. However, this definition is contested. Immigrant children or those born into ethnic or even religious minorities do not necessarily learn their parents’ language or may not master it as well as the dominant language of the host country or ruling group. In other words, the mother language is not always the most significant language in a person’s life.
Dr. Mohammad Reza Bateni, a prominent Iranian linguist, explains the definition of mother language:
"Mother language, as its name suggests, refers to the language a child hears from their mother for the first time and learns. However, this term can sometimes be misleading because the mother language is not always the most important language in a child’s life. Therefore, today, linguists prefer the term first language instead. The language learned later is called the second language, and so on."
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Dr. Mohammad Reza Bateni - Photo: Setareh Soleimani |
In Iran, various ethnic groups live, each with its own language and culture. Although the right to learn one’s mother tongue is recognized for different ethnic groups in Iran, this effort lacks sufficient and effective government support.
Article 15 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes that Persian is the country’s official language and script and that textbooks must be in this language. However, it adds: "The use of regional and ethnic languages in the press, mass media, and teaching their literature in schools is permitted alongside Persian." While local radio and television programs are broadcast in many provinces, serious attention is not given to teaching these languages in schools.
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| A School in Balochistan |
The lack of education in the mother tongue creates significant challenges for many children in Iran, particularly in primary school. Additionally, as UNESCO experts point out, oral languages are at greater risk of extinction than written languages.
Bilingualism and the Mother Language
As mentioned, many view the mother language as the native or parental language. Supporting and providing opportunities to learn this language, especially for migrants and ethnic minorities, is considered a crucial step in preserving linguistic diversity. The issue of the mother language becomes particularly complex and, in a sense, fascinating when ethnicity, identity, and bilingualism come into play.
The term bilingualism, like mother language, initially seems clear but is more complex upon examination. Dr. Emilia Nercissians, a linguist and educational sociologist specializing in bilingualism, points out the different degrees or types of bilingualism:
"We have individuals who are fully bilingual, meaning they can use two languages completely fluently in different contexts or domains. However, a fully bilingual person cannot be considered such unless the social, political, and cultural conditions of their region also support this. We also have bilinguals whose proficiency in one language dominates the other, which often has societal causes."
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| Dr. Emilia Nercissians |
She refers to the Armenian community in Iran:
"For Armenians, the Armenian language is the home language—a language a child speaks with their parents. Since Armenians form a relatively close-knit community, they use Armenian in interactions with friends or in Armenian schools. However, this language does not find opportunities for growth, cultivation, or further development. If Armenian remains confined to the home, it does not progress. This lack of diverse domains for practicing Armenian limits its development. Additionally, since Armenians do not interact extensively with larger populations, such as Persian speakers, they may not learn Persian as well as they should."
The mother language and identity are closely intertwined. The question arises: does the level of proficiency in a language influence whether someone considers it their mother tongue?
Dr. Mohammad Reza Bateni believes this question cannot be answered universally and must be examined case by case. He says:
"One person might be Azeri and have moved to Tehran at the age of 5. Another may have come searching for work at the age of 35 or 40 and speaks broken Persian. However, the sense of national pride and the feeling of being Turkish or Azeri differ between them. For instance, the child who moved to Tehran at age 5 and now speaks Persian without an accent might still identify as Azeri and participate in Azeri cultural associations in Tehran."
Dr. Nercissians also argues that "the sense of ownership of a language or identification with it can be partly individual, influenced by one’s stronger emotional connection to Group A or Group B. Moreover, emotional associations with a language can also play a role."
The Growing Threat to Languages
The disappearance of small tribes and ethnic groups due to the loss of their natural habitats or their displacement to urban peripheries and camps is one of the threats to mother languages. In recent decades, many forest-dwelling tribes have lost their language and ethnic identity in this way. Internal wars and the mass migration of defeated ethnic groups to neighboring countries have also contributed to the abandonment of certain languages.
The modern era and the structural changes in traditional human life have restricted the spaces for smaller groups to thrive and have led to the spread and dominance of a few languages among the global majority. Oral languages, estimated to number around 1,200, are particularly at risk of extinction. A large portion of these languages is spoken by African peoples, who collectively speak approximately 2,000 languages.
According to UNESCO, of the roughly 6,000 known languages worldwide, more than 3,000 are endangered. These languages are currently used by very small groups and have almost no chance of survival. Ninety-six percent of languages are spoken by only 4 percent of the world’s population. For example, on the islands of Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Ocean, more than 800 languages exist, some of which are spoken by fewer than 200 people. The total population of these islands is less than seven million.
UNESCO believes efforts should be made to ensure that lesser-used languages can coexist alongside dominant languages. Such efforts, given the role of language in shaping individual personality and the cultural identity of ethnic groups and nations, can enrich global culture.
The link to the original article in Farsi on Deutsche Welle Persian:
روز جهانی زبان مادری