“AROUND 50 per cent languages of the world will no more be with us after 50 years from now,” said Deputy Director of Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL-Mysore), Prof Rajesh Sachdeva.
Addressing the inaugural function of the three-day 28th All-India Conference of Linguistics at Arts Faculty auditorium in Banaras Hindu University here on Thursday, Prof Sachdeva said languages were facing tremendous threat under present circumstances across the globe. The Linguistic Department of BHU in collaboration with CIIL (Mysore) has organised the three-day conference.
“Around 90 per cent languages of the world will no longer be with us in 150 years from now”, he said and stressed the need of a fresh survey of languages to ascertain the actual number of languages in India.
As per 1991 census of languages, there are around 10,400 languages in India, said Prof. Sachdeva and added only 3,576 languages have been rationalised. He said there was need for a fresh survey to ascertain the present status of all the languages existing in the country.
He said serious efforts were required to safeguard the languages, as language was not just a tool of communication but it could play a significant role in maintaining our rich cultural diversity. “The destiny of a nation is linked with its languages”, he added.
{{/usCountry}}He said serious efforts were required to safeguard the languages, as language was not just a tool of communication but it could play a significant role in maintaining our rich cultural diversity. “The destiny of a nation is linked with its languages”, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Prof Sachdeva said the issue of language is gaining great importance it should be given proper attention in education, “All the teachers are teachers of language”, he added.
Earlier, Dean of Arts Faculty, Prof SN Pandey inaugurated the conference and said that this conference would bring out some noble ideas to promote linguistics. Former Director of CIIL (Mysore), Padm Shree Prof DP Pattanayak highlighted the development of modern linguistics in India.
President of Linguistics Society of India, Prof. K. Rangan presided over the inaugural function.
Organising secretary of the conference and Head of Linguistics Department, Prof Raj Nath Bhat delivered the welcome address and established the theme of the conference. Prof MS Pandey conducted the programme whereas Dr Sanjukta Ghosh proposed vote of thanks.
More than 200 delegates from across the country and abroad including USA, Nepal, Germany, Thailand, Bangladesh and Yemen etc are participating in the conference.