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Valery S. YEFIMOV
Head of the Centre for Strategic Research and Development,
Siberian Federal University,
(Krasnoyarsk, Russia)
Preserving Linguistic and Cultural Diversity
in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia):
Foresight Project
Preserving linguistic and cultural diversity is a need no one calls into question
these days, with its importance consolidated in a whole number of international
documents and intergovernmental agreements. Yet, small indigenous languages
are still facing the risk of extinction, and that risk may be exacerbated by
the ongoing process of information globalization. It is not unlikely that the
expansion of information and communications technology and the emergence
of global cyberspace will lead to a narrow group of major languages taking over
the world, with smaller ones pushed to the sidelines.
How Fast May Cultures and Languages Disappear
The extinction of minor languages was an issue prominent on the agenda of
the first international conference “Linguistic and Cultural Diversity,” held
in Yakutsk in 2008. By that time, Russia had seen three of its 105 languages
disappear while in the United States, with a total 238 languages spoken there
originally, 76 had become extinct and another 67 had found themselves on
the brink of extinction 30 . A language may go extinct within a relatively short
period of time – three to four generations. 31
In 2010, we conducted a survey on the status of small indigenous languages
spoken in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Region: Evenki, Selkup, Keto and Chulym.
The survey showed that over the past century, the share of native speakers in
respective generations had decreased, on average, from 100% in the generation
born between 1910 and 1930 (great-grandparents) to 8% in the generation
born in 1990-2010 (grandchildren).
30
V. Montviloff. Internet and Language Diversity: Is It Possible In: Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in
Cyberspace. Proceedings of the International Conference (Yakutsk, Russian Federation, 2-4 July, 2008).–
Moscow: ILCC, 2011.
31
Мурадова А. Р. Как исчезают языки и как их возрождают // Языковое разнообразие в киберпространстве:
российский и зарубежный опыт. Сборник аналитических материалов / Сост.: Е. И. Кузьмин,
Е. В. Плыс. – М.: МЦБС, 2008. – С.70–75.
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