The disappearance of languages and the disappearance of poetries are part of the same phenomenon the darker side, in their endangerment, of the struggle to achieve a global sense of cultural diversity.

The following account and the partial list of the world's languages that follows might be pondered in relation to Bernard Heidsieck's great sound poem, Vaduz [presented elsewhere on Ubuweb], in which the names of countries and cultures form a series of concentric circles with the capital of Lichtenstein at their center.

Digital race to save languages

By Andy Webster

in Melbourne

Researchers are fighting against time to save decades of data on the world's endangered languages from ending on the digital scrap heap.

Computer scientist and linguist Professor Steven Bird of Melbourne University says most computer files, documents and original digital recordings created more than 10 years ago are now virtually irretrievable.

Linguists are worried because they have been enthusiastic digital pioneers.

Attracted by ever smaller, lighter equipment and vastly improved storage capacity, field researchers have graduated from handwritten notes and wire recordings to laptops, mini-discs, DAT tape and MP3.

"We are sitting between the onset of the digital era and the mass extinction of the world's languages," said Prof Bird.

"The window of opportunity is small and shutting fast."

Languages disappearing

"The problem is we are unable to ensure the digital storage lasts for more than five to 10 years because of problems with new media formats, new binary data formats used by software applications and the possibility that magnetic storage just simply degrades over time," said Professor Bird.

When you record material in MP3 format now, what will happen in five years' time when a new format comes along?
Prof Peter Austin, University of London

There are a number of initiatives across the world to ensure that endangered languages are saved for future generations.

"Linguists estimate that if we don't do anything, half of the world's languages will disappear in the next 100 years," said Professor Peter Austin of the School of Oriental and Africa Studies at the University of London.

"There are currently about 6,500 languages in the world, so that's 3,000 languages completely going, lost forever," he told the BBC programme Go Digital.

Professor Bird is involved in the Open Language Archive Community (OLAC), an attempt to create a international network of internet-based digital archives, using tailor-made software designed to be future-proof.

"We're devising ways of storing linguistic information using XML or Extensible Markup Language, which is basically a language for representing data on the web," said Prof Bird.

"XML is an open format that we can be sure will be accessible indefinitely into the future."

Cultural sensitivities

Researchers across the world see the potential of XML, but are aware of the burden this places on them.

"When you record material in MP3 format now, what will happen in five years' time when a new format comes along?" asked Prof Austin.

"The real challenge for us as archivists is to constantly upgrade the video, audio and image files that we have so that they can be integrated with these new XML documents," he said.

There are problems, however, with using the internet as a storage medium.

Many indigenous communities fear it could lead to unrestricted access to culturally sensitive material, such as sacred stories, which could be abused or exploited, perhaps for commercial gain.

Professor Bird says linguists recognise it is not a good idea to put sensitive material onto the internet without any safeguards.

"We are [looking at] the technologies used in internet banking for secure transfer and control - right at the point this material is first captured."

In theory, a field researcher would enter information about future restrictions as the material is recorded or written down and those safeguards would accompany the recording right through the data chain.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/2857041.stm

A LIST OF LANGUAGES, EXTINCT, ENDANGERED & SECURE

Of the world's roughly 6,500 languages (of which, fewer than 500 are listed here) ), half will be extinct within the century, as the last speakers die.

Abkhazian; abk

Achinese; ace

Acoli; ach

Adangme; ada

Afar; aar

Afrihili; afh

Afrikaans; afr

Afro-Asiatic (Other); afa

Akan; aka

Akkadian; akk

Albanian; alb/sqi

Aleut; ale

Algonquian languages; alg

Altaic (Other); tut

Amharic; amh

Apache languages; apa

Arabic; ara

Aragonese; arg

Aramaic; arc

Arapaho; arp

Araucanian; arn

Arawak; arw

Armenian; arm/hye

Artificial (Other); art

Assamese; asm

Asturian; ast

Athapascan languages; ath

Australian languages; aus

Austronesian (Other); map

Avaric; ava

Avestan; ave

Awadhi; awa

Aymara; aym

Azerbaijani; aze

Bable; ast

Balinese; ban

Baltic (Other); bat

Baluchi; bal

Bambara; bam

Bamileke languages; bai

Banda; bad

Bantu (Other); bnt

Basa; bas

ashkir; bak

Basque; baq/eus

Batak (Indonesia); btk

Beja; bej

Belarusian; bel

Bemba; bem

Bengali; ben

Berber (Other); ber

Bhojpuri; bho

Bihari; bih

Bikol; bik

Bini; bin

Bislama; bis

Bokml, Norwegian; nob

Bosnian; bos

raj; bra

Breton; bre

Buginese; bug

Bulgarian; bul

Buriat; bua

Burmese;

bur/mya

Caddo; cad

Carib; car

Castilian; spa

Catalan; cat

Caucasian (Other); cau

Cebuano; ceb

Celtic (Other); cel

Central American Indian (Other); cai

Chagatai; chg

Chamic languages; cmc

Chamorro; cha

Chechen; che

Cherokee; chr

Chewa; nya

Cheyenne; chy

Chibcha; chb

Chichewa; nya

Chinese; chi/zho

Chinook jargon; chn

Chipewyan; chp

Choctaw; cho

Chuang; zha

Church Slavic; chu

Church Slavonic; chu

Chuukese; chk

Chuvash; chv

Coptic; cop

Cornish; cor

Corsican; cos

Cree; cre

Creek; mus

Creoles and pidgins(Other); crp

Creoles and pidgins, English-based (Other); cpe

Creoles and pidgins, French-based (Other); cpf

Creoles and pidgins, Portuguese-based (Other); cpp

Croatian; scr/hrv

Cushitic (Other); cus

Czech; cze/ces

Dakota; dak

Danish; dan

Dargwa; dar

Dayak; day

Delaware; del

Dinka; din

Divehi; div

Dogri; doi

Dogrib; dgr

Dravidian (Other); dra

Duala; dua

Dutch; dut/nld

Dutch, Middle (ca. 1050-1350); dum

Dyula; dyu

Dzongkha; dzo

Efik; efi

Egyptian (Ancient); egy

Ekajuk; eka

Elamite; elx

English; eng

English, Middle (1100-1500); enm

English, Old (ca.450-1100); ang

Esperanto; epo

Estonian; est

Ewe; ewe

Ewondo; ewo

Fang; fan

Fanti; fat

Faroese; fao

Fijian; fij

Finnish; fin

Finno-Ugrian (Other); fiu

Fon; fon

French; fre/fra

French, Middle (ca.1400-1600); frm

French, Old (842-ca.1400); fro

Frisian; fry

Friulian; fur

Fulah; ful

Ga; gaa

Gaelic; gla

Gallegan; glg

Ganda; lug

Gayo; gay

Gbaya; gba

Geez; gez

Georgian; geo/kat

German; ger/deu

German, Low; nds

German, Middle High (ca.1050-1500); gmh

German, Old High (ca.750-1050); goh

Germanic (Other); gem

Gikuyu; kik

Gilbertese; gil

Gondi; gon

Gorontalo; gor

Gothic; got

Grebo; grb

Greek, Ancient (to 1453); grc

Greek, Modern (1453-); gre/ell

Guarani; grn

Gujarati; guj

wich«in; gwi

Haida; hai

Hausa; hau

Hawaiian; haw

Hebrew; heb

Herero; her

Hiligaynon; hil

Himachali; him

Hindi; hin

Hiri Motu; hmo

Hittite; hit

Hmong; hmn

Hungarian; hun

Hupa; hup

Iban; iba

Icelandic; ice/isl

Ido; ido

Igbo; ibo

Ijo; ijo

Iloko; ilo

Inari Sami; smn

Indic (Other); inc

Indo-European (Other); ine

Indonesian; ind

Ingush; inh

Interlingua (International Auxiliary Language Association); ina

Interlingue; ile

Inuktitut; iku

Inupiaq; ipk

Iranian (Other); ira

Irish; gle

Irish, Middle (900-1200); mga

Irish, Old (to 900); sga

Iroquoian languages; iro

Italian; ita

Japanese; jpn

Javanese; jav

Judeo-Arabic; jrb

Judeo-Persian; jpr

Kabardian; kbd

Kabyle; kab

Kachin; kac

Kalaallisut; kal

Kamba; kam

Kannada; kan

Kanuri; kau

Kara-Kalpak; kaa

Karen; kar

Kashmiri; kas

Kawi; kaw

Kazakh; kaz

Khasi; kha

Khmer; khm

Khoisan (Other); khi

Khotanese; kho

Kikuyu; kik

Kimbundu; kmb

Kinyarwanda; kin

Kirghiz; kir

Komi; kom

Kongo; kon

Konkani; kok

Korean; kor

Kosraean; kos

Kpelle; kpe

Kru; kro

Kuanyama; kua

Kumyk; kum

Kurdish; kur

Kurukh; kru

Kutenai; kut

Kwanyama; kua

Ladino; lad

Lahnda; lah

Lamba; lam

Lao; lao

Latin; lat

Latvian; lav

Letzeburgesch; ltz

Lezghian; lez
Limburgan; lim

Limburger; lim

Limburgish; lim

Lingala; lin

Lithuanian; lit

Low German; nds

Low Saxon; nds

Lozi; loz

Luba-Katanga; lub

Luba-Lulua; lua

Luiseno; lui

Lule Sami; smj

Lunda; lun

Luo (Kenya and Tanzania); luo

Luxembourgish; ltz

Lushai; lus

Macedonian; mac/mkd

Madurese; mad

Magahi; mag

Maithili; mai

Makasar; mak

Malagasy; mlg

Malay; may/msa

Malayalam; mal

Maltese; mlt

Manchu; mnc

Mandar; mdr

Mandingo; man

Manipuri; mni

Manobo languages; mno

Manx; glv

Maori; mao/mri

Marathi; mar

Mari; chm

Marshallese; mah

Marwari; mwr

Masai; mas

Mayan languages; myn

Mende; men

Micmac; mic

Minangkabau; min

Miscellaneous languages; mis

Mohawk; moh

Moldavian; mol

Mon-Khmer (Other); mkh

Mongo; lol

Mongolian; mon

Mossi; mos

Multiple languages; mul

Munda languages; mun

Nahuatl; nah

Nauru; nau

Navaho; nav

Navajo; nav

Ndebele, North; nde

Ndebele, South; nbl

Ndonga; ndo

Neapolitan; nap

Nepali; nep

Newari; new

Nias; nia

Niger-Kordofanian (Other); nic

Nilo-Saharan (Other); ssa

Niuean; niu

Norse, Old; non

North American Indian (Other); nai

Northern Sami; sme

North Ndebele; nde

Norwegian; nor

Norwegian Bokml; nob

Norwegian Nynorsk; nno

Nubian languages; nub

Nyamwezi; nym

Nyanja; nya

Nyankole; nyn

Nynorsk, Norwegian; nno

Nyoro; nyo

Nzima; nzi

Occitan (post 1500); oci

Ojibwa; oji

Old Bulgarian; chu

Old Church Slavonic; chu

Old Slavonic; chu

Oriya; ori

Oromo; orm

Osage; osa

Ossetian; oss

Ossetic; oss

Otomian languages; oto

Pahlavi; pal

Palauan; pau

Pali; pli

Pampanga; pam

Pangasinan; pag

Panjabi; pan

Papiamento; pap

Papuan (Other); paa

Persian; per/fas

Persian, Old (ca.600-400); peo

Philippine (Other); phi

Phoenician; phn

Pohnpeian; pon

Polish; pol

Portuguese; por

Prakrit languages; pra

Provenal; oci

Provenal, Old (to 1500); pro

Pushto; pus

Quechua; que

Raeto-Romance; roh

Rajasthani; raj

Rapanui; rap

Rarotongan; rar

Reserved for local user; qaa-qtz

Romance (Other); roa

Romanian; rum/ron

Romany; rom

Rundi; run

Russian; rus

Salishan languages; sal

Samaritan Aramaic; sam

Sami languages (Other); smi

Samoan; smo

Sandawe; sad

Sango; sag

Sanskrit; san

Santali; sat

Sardinian; srd

Sasak; sas

Saxon, Low; nds

Scots; sco

Scottish Gaelic; gla

Selkup; sel

Semitic (Other); sem

Serbian; scc/srp

Serer; srr

Shan; shn

Shona; sna

Sichuan Yi; iii

Sidamo; sid

Sign languages; sgn

Siksika; bla

Sindhi; snd

Sinhalese; sin

Sino-Tibetan (Other); sit

Siouan languages; sio

Skolt Sami; sms

Slave (Athapascan); den

Slavic (Other); sla

Slovak; slo/slk

Slovenian; slv

Sogdian; sog

Somali; som

Songhai; son

Soninke; snk

Sorbian languages; wen

Sotho, Northern; nso

Sotho, Southern; sot

South American Indian (Other); sai

Southern Sami; sma

South Ndebele; nbl

Spanish; spa

Sukuma; suk

Sumerian; sux

Sundanese; sun

Susu; sus

Swahili; swa

Swati; ssw

Swedish; swe

Syriac; syr

Tagalog; tgl

Tahitian; tah

Tai (Other); tai

Tajik; tgk

Tamashek; tmh

Tamil; tam

Tatar; tat

Telugu; tel

Tereno; ter

Tetum; tet

Thai; tha

Tibetan; tib/bod

Tigre; tig

Tigrinya; tir

imne; tem

Tiv; tiv

Tlingit; tli

Tok Pisin; tpi

Tokelau; tkl

Tonga (Nyasa); tog

Tonga (Tonga Islands); ton

Tsimshian; tsi Tsonga; tso

Tswana; tsn Tumbuka; tum

Tupi languages; tup

Turkish; tur

Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928); ota

Turkmen; tuk

Tuvalu; tvl

Tuvinian; tyv

Twi; twi

Ugaritic; uga

Uighur; uig

Ukrainian; ukr

Umbundu; umb

Undetermined; und

Urdu; urd

Uzbek; uzb

Vai; vai

Venda; ven

Vietnamese; vie

Volapk; vol

Votic; vot

Wakashan languages; wak

Walamo; wal

Walloon; wln

Waray; war

Washo; was

Welsh; wel/cym

Wolof; wol

Xhosa; xho

Yakut; sah

Yao; yao

Yapese; yap

Yiddish; yid

Yoruba; yor

Yupik languages; ypk

Zande; znd

Zapotec; zap

Zenaga; zen

Zhuang; zha

Zulu; zul

Zuni; zun