International Mother Language Day promotes diversity

By Erdogan Cagatay Zontur</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – International Language Day is being observed worldwide Thursday to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.</p> <p>In 1999, UNESCO recognized Feb. 21 in a resolution as International Mother Language Day to honor the Bengali demonstrations in 1952 in then-East Pakistan — which later became Bangladesh — against the use of Urdu as the sole national language.</p> <p>The Bengali Language Movement started in 1952 and after a long struggle, in 1956 the central government of then-Pakistan accepted Bengali as one of the state languages of the country.</p> <p>In the same resolution, the General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Languages, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism.</p> <p>The UN made 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages under the theme of “Matter for development, peace-building and reconciliation”.</p> <p> </p> <p>- A language goes extinct every 2 weeks</p> <p>At least 43 percent of the approximately 6,000 languages spoken in the world are endangered, according to the UN report “Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger”.</p> <p>&quot;Every two weeks a language disappears, taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage,” according to another UN statement.</p> <p>“When languages fade, so does the world's rich tapestry of cultural diversity. Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression — valuable resources for ensuring a better future — are also lost,” it read.</p> <p>Extinct languages also threaten linguistic diversity.</p> <p>Nearly 40 percent of the world population does not receive education in their mother tongue, according to the UN.</p> <p>“Progress is being made in mother tongue-based multilingual education with growing understanding of its importance, particularly in early schooling, and more commitment to its development in public life,” the UN added.