The history of humanity is woven with diverse languages that reflect the cultural richness and ancestral heritage of peoples around the world. However, in the whirlwind of globalization, some lesser-spoken languages find themselves in peril, threatened with extinction. Each language that becomes extinct is like a unique book that closes forever, taking with it stories, traditions and a deep understanding of our shared history.
In the twists and turns of time, we observe with increasing sadness the slow decline of languages such as Chamicuro, spoken by fewer than a dozen people in Peru. The preference of younger generations for Spanish leaves this ancient language behind, facing imminent extinction despite the efforts made to document it.
In Nepal, Dumi resonates in the mountains, carried by the voices of a few elders. However, progressive urbanization is pushing young people towards more widespread languages, relegating Dumi to oblivion, while Ethiopian tribes are abandoning Ongota for more widely used neighboring languages, condemning this unique linguistic heritage to extinction.
The small community on the Indonesian island where Liki is spoken is gradually merging into other cultures, leaving behind distinct sounds and singular words. Similarly, on the Solomon Islands, Tanema resonates through the centuries, carrying the stories and myths of the island, unfortunately doomed to sink into oblivion for lack of speakers to perpetuate its memory.
Njerep in Cameroon and Chemehuevi in the United States also illustrate the struggle of indigenous languages to survive in the face of the linguistic homogenization of our time. These languages, deeply rooted in the identity and culture of their people, are at risk of disappearing into silence, taking with them precious ancestral knowledge and unique perspectives on the world.
Each language that evaporates is a part of humanity that is erased, a fragment of our diversity that is lost forever. Safeguarding these linguistic treasures means preserving the memory and heritage of all humanity, it means resisting the uniformization of the world and celebrating the richness of the cultural plurality that surrounds us.
Thus, in the face of the inexorable disappearance of these languages, it is imperative to take measures to document, preserve and transmit this essential knowledge to future generations. Because in each word, in each sound, lies a whole universe of meaning and feelings, a door open to forgotten worlds that we cannot afford to lose.