Finding our voice

Although the country is home to over 100 indigenous languages, people overwhelmingly rely on Nepali for communication purpose. This is because often Nepali is the only way to communicate for two ethnic groups that do not speak each other’s language. Because indigenous languages can only be understood by a select group of people, speakers of these languages are deprived of many opportunities that come from communicating with larger groups. Moreover, lack of proficiency in Nepali keeps them from meaningful engagement with state mechanisms. Because of Nepali’s growing popularity, many indigenous languages are dying out. Eleven languages— Byangsi, Chonkha, Longaba, Mugali, Sambya, Pongyong, Bungla, Chukwa, Hedangba, Waling, and Khandung—have already become extinct, and some other indigenous languages including Koche, Lhomi, Kisan, Kusunda, Lingkhim, Kagate, and Chintang have less than 100 surviving speakers. There are 34 other endangered languages in Nepal, each with less than 500 speakers each.



The extinction of local dialects should be a matter of national concern. Languages contain unique features like idioms, rhymes, or distinctive cultural terms that are often lost in translation. Languages carry with them the knowledge of entire cultures, and once a language dies, the culture is in grave danger of being misinterpreted. Language also provides clues about the cultural and emigrational history of its speakers. These are incentives enough to preserve dying languages, but there are also many practical benefits of doing so. Research suggests children learn faster when taught in their mother tongues than in languages they are less comfortable with. Historically, when two languages have come into contact, they have often enriched each other, one providing terms the other lacks. English, for example, is the language with the most number of words, just because it came into contact with so many different languages around the world.




There are many obstacles to preserving dying languages. Language, like religion and culture, cannot be practiced in isolation. A lone user of a language can derive very little benefit from it. For example, the three speakers of Kusunda language in Nepal live in different places, and their knowledge of the language is of no use to any of them.



But the revival of nearly extinct languages like Hebrew in Israel and Maori in Australia indicate that not all hope is lost, and that with enough encouragement, endangered languages in Nepal can be saved. The government’s initiative to provide education in mother tongue is an initiative in the right direction, but focus should be more on teaching the language itself rather than teaching the entire curriculum in a language, which could limit children’s horizon.



Private initiatives to document endangered languages should be supported by the state. Languages spoken by a sufficient number of people should be granted the status of official languages in future federal provinces, which will make the lives of native speakers easier. Awards and other incentives to scholars and writers in these languages will keep them motivated to keep their language alive. Most of all, families that have inherited these languages must make it a duty to pass it on to their children, because language is as precious a gift as any other cultural component that can be passed down the generation.

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