What is the value of preserving indigenous languages?

The world we live in today once had multifarious languages; each indigenous language protected a community’s culture and traditions. However, as communication became ubiquitous the human race have developed a propensity towards the English language thus, placing their indigenous language and culture into a quagmire. Once people vilify their indigenous language, their pertinacious insistence to avoid practicing it and swapping it for another language causes the language to die.

How does this have a pernicious impact on society?

First and foremost, knowledge is the key to development in society. However, linguistic erosion has caused the loss of a great amount of orally passed indigenous knowledge that could never be retrieved once the language dies.

Not only does an indigenous language protect its people’s identity and dignity, but it also protects the laws of the land. Without these laws, individuals of a community would often find themselves struggling to survive in their environment.

Another point, which had been touched upon earlier, is that language death signifies the depletion of cultural diversity.

There is no single style of governance, nor a single lifestyle that is suitable to all human beings. Environmental factors greatly impact shaping the style of life and governance that is most suitable to the community. Thus, lack of cultural diversity could place many communities in a perilous state.

That is why the paucity of indigenous languages remaining is alarming and must be taken seriously in order to ensure human survival.