Sun, Mar 04, 2007 page8

• Saving languages is a worthy cause

  • By Gary Heath
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  In recent years, a great deal of attention and money has been focused on protecting Taiwan's endangered fauna, such as the Formosan Black Bear, the Black-faced Spoonbills and the Formosan Landlocked Salmon. What is less noticed -- but of great importance -- is the fact that all of the nation's indigenous languages are also endangered, some of them critically so and a big effort of preventive linguistics is now required to help save them.

  The problem of dying languages is only superficially understood and deserves more attention.

  Aside from the ongoing ecological crisis, the world is going through a cultural crisis, which is resulting in the rapid loss of languages. The fact that about half of the world's 6,000 known languages are likely to disappear in the next hundred years is cause for alarm. Some specialists claim that one language is destined to die every two weeks or so.

  When I raise the issue with friends, the typical reaction is a shrug and an apathetic comment along the lines of: "Oh, you mean those small dialects spoken by Indians in the Amazon?"

  But language death is not something that happens in a faraway country -- it happens all around us and has already happened to several of the nation's indigenous languages. It will now be incredibly difficult, though not impossible, to revive the Ketagalan, Taokas, Papora, Babuza, Hoanya, Siraya, Tavorlong and Makatao languages, even if these indigenous groups manage to maintain a modicum of ethnic identity without speaking their former mother tongue.

  It would be fair to ask if we should care about this phenomenon in the first place. After all, all things come to an end. But languages, like the air we breathe, are somewhat taken for granted. They are what makes us human and they contain within them our cultural history and collective knowledge and wisdom.

  When a language dies, it truly is a catastrophe.

  Imagine for a moment that you are the last speaker of English in the world. You have no one to talk to in English and when you die all of English culture and all of the knowledge associated with this language, dies with you. It's as if you and the language never existed.

  At last count, there were 28 speakers of indigenous languages in Australia, a country where the phenomenon of language death is widespread. For them, the above scenario is all too real.

  One misconception that needs to be addressed is the neo-colonial belief that indigenous people -- and by association their languages -- are somehow primitive, or simple and that inherently their languages are outmoded and not worth saving. This attitude ignores the complexity and subtlety of all languages and the fact that all languages hold within them special bits of knowledge not accessible to those who don't speak them.

  Languages are adapted to their environments and Taiwanese languages are no exception. These languages are complex and represent a whole unique perspective on the world.

  Who knows when we may need to tap into that unique perspective for our own survival as a species?

  Languages die out for all kinds of reasons, and it has to be acknowledged that in practical terms we are not going to be able to prevent the extinction of many of them. However, the case of Taiwan is most encouraging since its Aborigines have attained formal recognition and funding through the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP).

  The council recently adopted a plan to promote indigenous language learning among 12 officially Aboriginal tribes. This will involve the teaching of about 43 dialects in schools across the nation.

  The challenges involved in the implementation of this program cannot be underestimated, however, and proper planning, along with a long-term commitment, will be required to make preventive linguistics work. At the end of the day, the whole community will need to be involved in language preservation, something that a bureaucratic quick-fix cannot achieve.

  In addition to providing teaching materials, the council has to put small field teams together. These teams will need to include specialists on socio-political organization and action, as well as linguists and teachers. They will also have to develop the process needed to help promote indigenous language learning in specific socio-geographical areas, a process that must include economic development.

  The need for a concerted community effort is crucial for the preservation of endangered languages. That is why any non-solicited effort at the local level has to be especially welcomed and supported. It is deeply regrettable that the council has been reluctant to expand official recognition to the Ping Pu plains Aborigines, more or less writing these groups off. With the scarce resources available, the council's attitude is understandable, but wrong.

  Writing in Taiwan News on Dec. 18, journalist and social activist Jason Pan argued that the Pazeh and Kahabu, among others, deserve official recognition and funding for participation in viable language programs.

  In a recent telephone conversation, Jason told me that at least 200 people in his Pazeh community meet from time to time, and perhaps 2,000 people of Pazeh ethnic origin are listed in household registration records. The Pazeh community has set up language classes for their children, but they need help.

  Without official recognition and funding, this community effort will flounder.

  I completely agree with Cheng I-jiunn (程一駿), who argued in your paper (Opinion, Dec. 25, 2006, page 8) that the building of an airport on Taiping, in the Spratly Islands chain, should be stopped. The green turtles that nest there deserve a break; the budget thus saved should be given to the Pazeh community instead, to give their language a break, too.

  The Aborigines of Taiwan need to know that their efforts to preserve their languages are worthy, and central and local governments need to be persuaded to allocate resources to aid these local language preservation efforts instead of wasting money on the construction of unnecessary airports, roads and museums.

  Gary Heath is a writer and cultural worker who lives in Taipei.
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