February 21 is International Mother Language Day. Despite the paradoxical name, the holiday has the most common goals, to draw attention to the cultural heritage of one’s own country. And what if not language is the simplest and most direct bridge between the past and the future. At the UNESCO conference, held on November 17, 1999, the main postulates were adopted. International Mother Language Day in Russia is celebrated simultaneously with the whole world - November 21, starting in 2000.
Only numbers
According to UNESCO, about six thousand languages in the world are on the verge of extinction, so if this problem is not taken seriously, the world will lose the last speakers of unique languages and dialects. The UN joined the impulse of UNESCO, declaring 2008 the year of language, and 2010 was held under the motto of the rapprochement of cultures. Despite the fact that the UN and UNESCO are international, global organizations, all their actions in relation to culture, including language, are aimed at preserving the uniqueness of a particular people. International Mother Language Day, for all its global meaning, has an intimate, important significance specifically for individual peoples and territories. By fitting them into a larger international family, global organizations strive to distinguish the role of each family member.
Interpenetration of cultures
Thanks to the proximity of peoples, a unique canvas is created in which morals and traditions, cultural heritage and languages are intertwined. Mother Language Day is another opportunity to look at your speech not only from the point of view of communication, but also to analyze certain established expressions and words. For example, think about where exactly this or that word originates, what language it was borrowed from and what meaning our distant ancestors put into it. Or maybe even our geographical neighbors. It is no secret that, for example, in the Russian language there are a huge number of words borrowed from English, Dutch, German, French and many other languages, which at first glance have nothing in common with Slavic culture. All this is incredibly interesting and requires the most careful study, which means the holiday celebrated in the world on February 21 - World Language Day, is incredibly important and should be in demand.
When is International Mother Language Day?
International Mother Language Day is celebrated annually around the world on February 21. This holiday was established on November 17, 1999 by the General Conference of UNESCO, and began to be celebrated in February 2000. The main goal of the International Mother Language Day holiday is to promote linguistic and cultural diversity in the world.
Let us recall that 2008 was declared in a resolution of the UN General Assembly as the International Year of Languages, and 2010 became the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures.
Languages are considered to be the most effective tool for preserving and developing the material and spiritual heritage of any nation. Today there are about 6 thousand languages in the world. According to UNESCO, in the near future, approximately half of them may lose their last carriers and completely disappear.
About 80% of African languages have no written language at all. The trend of language extinction will only intensify in the future.
A language can survive if at least 100,000 people speak it. Languages are disappearing not only in the modern world, this has always happened, sometimes extinct languages did not even leave a trace. However, never before have languages disappeared so quickly. Very often, the extinction of languages was caused by the desire of rulers to achieve the unity of their country; for this they had to force the people to use one common language.
One of the most important goals of International Mother Language Day is to protect endangered languages. The problem of disappearing languages is very relevant today, because in the world currently about two languages disappear every month.
The emergence of new technologies has made it increasingly difficult for national minorities to achieve recognition of their languages. This is due to the rapid development of the Internet throughout the world. And today it is believed that a language that is not represented on the Internet does not exist at all. It is estimated that about 81% of all pages on the Internet are in English. It is followed by a huge margin by German and Japanese, French, Spanish and Scandinavian languages.
UNESCO has even created a special portal for national minorities in disadvantaged conditions. It allows these people to access human knowledge and education.
Meaning of mother tongue
Language is a system of sound and written symbols that people use to convey their thoughts and feelings. Scientists generally agree that language arose about half a million years ago. However, so far none of them can explain with certainty how exactly its origin occurred. All languages on our planet are approximately equal in structural complexity.
Our material and spiritual heritage develops and is preserved precisely thanks to them. Each language is unique in its own way, and therefore represents a very great cultural value, which we must try to preserve for as long as possible.
Any steps aimed at the dissemination of mother tongues contribute to linguistic diversity and multilingual education. People around the world need to become more familiar with the linguistic and cultural traditions of their countries. This makes it possible to strengthen solidarity based on mutual understanding and dialogue.
It is necessary to pay a lot of attention to the native language, because... it is a tool for communication, reflection and perception, and describes our vision of the world. In addition, language is also capable of reflecting the connection between the past, present and future, and serves as a means of expressing creativity.
Our native language leaves a unique imprint on each of us from the moment we are born. In addition to his native language, a person can also master foreign languages. This allows us to experience another culture and a different worldview. Each language has unique expressions that reflect the mentality and customs of the people speaking it. A person comprehends his native language from infancy. Even in the womb, the child already hears speech. When he is born, he gradually begins to speak the language spoken by the people around him in the family.
We can say that our native language shapes our consciousness within the framework of the culture that is embedded in it.
However, science has proven that if a person speaks only one language, then part of his brain develops less, and his creative abilities also do not develop fully. Therefore, learning foreign languages is very useful for our development. It should be noted that children learn foreign languages much easier than adults.
Traditions for the holiday February 21
On this festive day of February 21, International Mother Language Day, various exhibitions, concerts and presentations dedicated to languages are held at UNESCO Headquarters and its branches around the world.
To protect languages, UNESCO even plans to create a preventive monitoring system. This system will help monitor the status of those languages that are threatened with complete extinction, and will also help improve the situation.
It should be noted that the date of the celebration coincides with the date of the holiday, which is celebrated in Bangladesh in memory of the bloody events of the middle of the last century. Then, in 1952, supporters of Bengali being recognized as the official language of East Pakistan were brutally persecuted by the Pakistani police.
In our multinational country there are a large number of different languages. Moreover, 136 of them were recognized by UNESCO as endangered in 2009.
In different cities of our country, they are trying to coincide with the holiday of February 21 - International Mother Language Day - with various events and actions to protect the Russian language.
Many people do not like the current situation that has developed around modern mass media. All of them widely use profanity, slang, criminal language, a huge number of foreign words, etc. All this contributes to the pollution of the Russian language.
International Mother Language Day, proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO on 17 November 1999, has been celebrated annually on 21 February since 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
1. The date for the Day was chosen to commemorate the events that occurred in Dhaka (now the capital of Bangladesh) on February 21, 1952, when students who demonstrated in defense of their native language Bengali, which they demanded to be recognized as one of the official languages of the country, were killed by police bullets. .
2.
In revolutionary Russia in 1917, there were 193 languages, but at the time the agreement on the collapse of the USSR was signed in December 1991, there were only 40. On average, two languages disappeared every year. Currently, 136 languages in Russia are in danger of extinction, and 20 have already been declared dead.
3.
Experts believe that for a language to survive, it needs to be spoken by at least 100 thousand people. At all times, languages arose, existed, then died out, sometimes without even leaving a trace. But never before have they disappeared as quickly as in the 20th century.
4.
According to UNESCO estimates, half of the world's 6 thousand languages are in danger of extinction.
5.
Today there are more than 6 thousand different languages in the world. Among them are the most complex, most common and other interesting facts about the languages of the world.
6.
One of the most difficult languages to learn is Basque, it is so complex that during World War II the language was used as a code.
7. Papua New Guinea has the most languages. More than seven hundred Papuan and Melanesian languages and dialects are spoken here. It is logical that it was difficult to agree on which of them would become the state one. Therefore, according to the country's constitution, there is no official language here, and documentation uses English and its local version - pidgin English (half of Papuan "Tok Pisin").
8. The most complete dictionary of the Chinese language contains more than 87,000 characters, each of which represents a different syllable. The most complex is the archaic hieroglyph se - “chatty”, consisting of 64 lines, and of those currently in use - the hieroglyph nan, which contains 36 lines and means “stuffy nose”.
9. The most common sound - no language can do without the vowel “a”.
10. The rarest sound is the Czech sound “RZD”. It is not easy for Czech children - they are the last to learn Russian Railways.
11. The oldest letter is "O". It first appeared in the Phoenician alphabet around 1300. BC and hasn't changed a bit since then. Today the letter “o” is included in 65 alphabets in the world.
12. Nowadays, the most people in the world speak Chinese (Mandarin) - 885 million people, Spanish is in second place and English is only third. Russian language is in 7th place in popularity, it is spoken by 170 million people around the world.
13 . 80% of all the world's information is stored in English. More than half of technical andscientific publications in the world are published on it.
14. The shortest alphabet in the world is that of the natives of the island of Bougainville - only 11 letters. In second place is the Hawaiian alphabet - there are 12 letters.
15. The longest alphabet in the world is Cambodian, with 74 letters.
16. It turns out that Finnish is considered the easiest language. On it, the sound of all letters is always the same - how it is heard is how it is written. Although its grammar is much more complex than English - there are 15 cases alone.
17 . There are now 46 languages in the world that are spoken by just one person.
18 . There are cases of saving languages. The most striking example of a rebirth is Hebrew, which was considered a “dead” language for almost 2000 years. Today, Hebrew is spoken by 8 million people, including 5 million who use it as their primary language.
19 . Today there are 6,809 “living” languages in the world. Most of them are in Asia and Africa.
20. According to various estimates, the literary Belarusian language has from 250 to 500 thousand words. The dialectal language of Belarus is much richer - it has 1.5-2 million words.
Happy Mother Language Day!
Speak it often so it doesn't disappear!
International Mother Language Day 2020 is celebrated on February 21st. The holiday is celebrated by people who study and pass on knowledge about language: teachers of literature, language, writing researchers, library staff, students, teachers and graduate students of philological faculties of higher educational institutions, people passionate about linguistics.
The purpose of the holiday is to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and protect endangered languages. Every year it is dedicated to a specific topic.
history of the holiday
On November 17, 1999, the UNESCO General Conference declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day. The first celebrations took place in 2000. The UN General Assembly supported the initiative to proclaim a holiday in 2002 in Resolution No. Α/RES/56/262. She called on member countries to promote the preservation and protection of the languages of the world's peoples.
The date of the holiday is dedicated to the memory of the tragedy that occurred in Bangladesh on February 21, 1952. Pakistani police shot protesters who advocated for the recognition of Bengali as the state language.
Holiday traditions
On this day, educational lectures, conferences, and seminars are held. Actions are being taken to protect the state language. At UNESCO headquarters in Paris and its branches, exhibitions and presentations dedicated to languages are organized, and festive concerts are organized. Thematic classes are held in educational institutions. Competitions are held among native language experts. The media publishes articles about existing and endangered languages.
Each official UN language has its own holiday. Russian Language Day is celebrated on June 6, English on April 23, Spanish on October 12, French on March 20, Arabic on December 18 and Chinese on April 20. The European Day of Languages is celebrated on September 26, and Common Language Day on August 18.
54% of Internet resources are in English, 6% are in Russian.
There are 7 thousand languages on Earth. One of the reasons for their disappearance is the uneven distribution of the number of carriers. A language becomes extinct if fewer than 100 thousand people speak it.
In 2009, UNESCO recognized 136 languages in Russia as endangered.
The UN General Assembly declared 2008 the International Year of Languages.
Pidgin is a simplified, non-native speech, a means of communication between several ethnic groups.
Researchers claim that a primitive protolanguage appeared 2.3 million years ago in Homo habilis, a highly developed australopithecine.
The history of linguistics began in the 5th century BC. e.
