Native Languages on Verge of Extinction in Mexico Eurasia Review
go to original April 5, 2014

Ixcatec: A Dying Mexican Language (Wii0Lover)

Mexico has 143 native languages, 21 of which are in critical danger of extinction, such as the Ayapaneco from Tabasco, which is only spoken by two senior adults, followed by Kiliwa of Baja California with only 36 speakers.

Although there are many languages, recent research shows that about 60 are at risk of disappearing, and the extinction process is accelerated because they are spoken by a small group of seniors, which is known as displacement of the language.

When the phase of risk of losing the language is reached, researchers from the Centre of Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) determine the degree of danger for the language to disappear, categorizing it in slow or fast displacement or extinction process.

The Revitalization, Strengthening and Development Program of the National Indigenous Languages  2008-2012 (PINALI) classifies 143 languages according to vulnerability posing for extinction; 52 are vulnerable, 38 endangered, 32 severely endangered and 21 critically endangered with less than 200 speakers like Oluteco from the east coast, Ixil and Kaqchikel from the south of Mexico, plus Teko qato’k / Motocintleco, Cucapá, Pápago and Ixcateco.

There are also a total of 364 linguistic variations which are taken into account when the languages are not mutually intelligible although they belong to the same group. As the case of the Zapoteco, which due to its 62 variants, was renamed to Zapotecanas languages, explained the researcher at CIESAS, Lourdes de León Pasquel.

In the first phase, according to the National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI), there is a loss of speakers from the new generation. The criteria for measuring this situation is when children no longer want to learn to speak the language of their parents and grandparents.

Read the rest at Eurasia Review

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