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Wintermans, V.V.

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UNESCO and endangered languagesWintermans, V.V.CitationWintermans, V. V. (2008). UNESCO and endangered languages. Proceedings Of The FelConference, VII, 231-233. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/138737 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown)License: Leiden University Non-exclusive licenseDownloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/138737 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable).UNESCO and Endangered languagesVincent WintermansNetherlands National Commission for UNESCOThe Hague[vwintermans@unesco.nl]Abstract Short summaryIntroductionUNESCO,  the  United  Nations  Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization, has alwayshad a keen interest in the question of languages,including  multilingualism  and  endangeredlanguages. Indeed, already its predecessor underthe  League  of  Nations, the  InternationalCommittee  on  Intellectual  Cooperation (IICI),strove to organize an international conference onlangues primitives en danger d’extinction.  Thiswas  prompted  by a  request  from  the  firstInternational  Congress  of  Linguists  in  TheHague in 1928 to all governments and relevantbodies of the League of Nations d’organiser uneétude aussi complète que possible des langues etdes  dialectes  de  tous  les  pays  dont  ils  ont  lagarde.  Due to  misunderstandings  between IICIand  the  Comité  International  Permanent  deLinguistes (CIPL) this project was abandoned.For us, it is interesting to compare the ideas andvalues that lay behind this early effort and thosethat fuel the work of UNESCO and the linguisticcommunity 80 years later.The  words  langues  primitives strikes  us  ofcourse as very inappropriate; to do justice to theinter  bellum  linguists,  I  should  add  that  thePresident of CIPL at that time, Jos Schrijnen ofNijmegen  University,  already  objected  to  this‘unscientific’ epithet primitive.1Both the request of the linguists and the plan fora  conference  from  the  IICI  were  exclusivelyscience driven. The death of languages was first1 source: Résumé d’un entretien de Mgr. Schrijnen, sécretaire permanent du congrès des linguistes avec MM. Zimmern et de Vos van Steenwijk – 26/11/28 -IICI Archives at UNESCO - File DD.II.3and foremost seen as a regretful loss of scientificdata. The ideal of the linguists in The Hague wassomething like Gilliéron’s Atlas Linguistique dela France on a global scale; the IICI should useits prestige with governments to back the appealof the linguists for sufficient funding. Nowadays,both  the  linguistic  community  and  UNESCOstress  the  central  position  of  the  communities.Nikolaus Himmelmann names as one of the fiveinnovative features  of  the nascent  discipline of‘documentary linguistics’ the “close cooperationwith  and  direct  involvement  of  the  speechcommunity”. He characterizes members of thesecommunities  as  co-researchers2.  LikewiseUNESCO stresses that “actions only make senseif in the communities concerned there is a widesupport for revitalization measures”.3On  the  other  hand,  the  sense  of  urgency  thatlinguists  feel  today  in  the  face  of  the  massivelanguage  death  existed  already  in  these  earlytimes. Antoine Meillet, who took the initiative ofthe  above  mentioned  request  to  the  League  ofNations,  said:  le congrès ne devrait pas fermerses  portes  sans  avoir  discuté  un  problèmepratique de grande importance ; chaque jour il y2 quoted in Peter K. Austin Current Trends in Documenting Endangered Languages, 2nd International Workshop NOW Endangered Languages Research Programme, Amsterdam, 7 September 2007, referring to Nikolaus Himmelmann Language documentation: What is it and what is it good for? In Jost Gippert, Nikolaus P.Himmelmann and Ulrike Mosel (eds.) 2006. Essentials of Language Documentation (Trends inLinguistics. Studies and Monographs, 178), 1-30. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.3 Rieks Smeets UNESCO Activities for Safeguarding Endangered Languages, published on the website of the project Endangered Languages ofIndigenuous Peoples of Siberia: http://lingsib.unesco.ru/en/articles/smeets.shtml.htma des langues qui meurent ou qui changent.4 Thiswas as true in 1928 as it is in 2008.Current UNESCO activitiesUNESCO’s  activities  for  languages  areundertaken in all the Sectors of the Organization:Education,  Social  &  Human  Sciences,  Cultureand Communication & Information.In  recent  years,  the  interest  in  language  issueshas markedly risen: a Task Force for Languagesand  Multilingualism,  chaired  by  Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, was created in 2006in order to ensure that the issue of languages isembedded  effectively  within  the  work  of  allSectors  and  to  identify  new  strategicorientations.  It  published  a  mid-term  strategy(2008-2013). This document identifies two mainstrategic  intersectoral  axes:  “by  promotinglinguistic  diversity  and  multilingualism,UNESCO  will  contribute,  on  the  one  hand  tocultural  diversity  and  dialogue and,  on  theother hand, to consolidating the role of culturein development  strategies.”5 The coordinationof  programmes  related  to  languages  andmultilingualism  lies  with  the  Culture  Sector“given  the  cultural  nature  of  the  linguisticphenomenon”.6As  is  usual  in  this  kind  of  documents,  theStrategy  sketches  the  goals  and  the  policyprinciples behind it in a rather abstract way. Inorder  to  show what  is  done in  practice,  I  willvery  briefly  describe  some  recent  activities  ofvarious  size  and  impact.  Much information  onsuch  projects  can  be  found  at  UNESCOswebsite. I will limit myself here to activities forendangered languages.Publication  of  the  Atlas  of  the  World’sLanguages in Danger of Disappearing.The third edition of this publication is planned toappear  at  the  end  of  this  year.  As  part  of  thepreparation,  an  expert  meeting  on  linguisticcartography was  held in 2007.  The two earlier4 Actes du premier congres international de linguistes à La Haye, du 10-1  avril 1928 / (comité de réd.: C. de Boer, Jac. van Ginneken, A.G. van Hamel) Leiden : Sijthoff, 1930.5 176 EX/INF. 1  Report by the Director-General on the execution of the programme adopted by the General Conference – Intersectorial mid-term strategyon languages and multilingualism;   April 2007, page 2. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/001 /001 03/1 033 E.pdf 6 Idem, page 4.editions  (1996  and  2001,  edited  by  StephenWurm) have done a lot to raise awareness aboutendangered  languages.  The  new  edition  willcontain more data and will be truly global. Anon-line version of the new Atlas is also foreseen.Register  of  Good  Practices  in  LanguagePreservationUNESCO wants to facilitate the sharing of goodpractices from all over the world. To do this, itissued  a  call  for  submission  of  examples  ofcommunity-based  projects  in  languagepreservation  in  2005.  At  this  moment,  only  asmall  number  of  projects  have  been  madeavailable on the website7,  but the Secretariat  isplanning to add to the register in the future.Preliminary Research on Minority Languagesin CambodiaThe  research  was  carried  out  in  2007  underauspices of the UNESCO Field Office in PhnomPenh. It resulted in an up-to-date description ofthe  situation  of  minority  languages  in  thecountry.  On  the  basis  of  the  publication,  thePhnom  Penh  Field  Office  envisages  moretargeted  activities  on  community  developmentamongst some of Cambodia’s minorities.Revitalization  of  a  disappearing  SouthernKhoesan  Language,  N|u  of  the  #KhomaniCommunityIn  cooperation  with  the  Department  ofLinguistics  of  the  University  of  Namibia,UNESCO helps a village in its efforts to pass thetraditional  languages,  spoken by only 8 elderlypeople,  to  the  youth  of  the  community.  Theprojects  includes  the  development  of  anorthography and training of community membersin  working  with  computers  and  audiovisualequipment.2008 UN Year of LanguagesOn 16 May 2007,  the United  Nations  GeneralAssembly  proclaimed  2008  to  be  theInternational Year of Languages8. UNESCO hasbeen named the lead agency for this event. It isanother indication of the interest that exists, alsoin  other  places  in  the  UN-systems  thanUNESCO, for languages and multilingualism. Inthe  framework  of  this  Year,  UNESCO  hasdevoted a whole issue of the UNESCO Courier7 http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=0014 &categ=04#menu_onglet 8 See the relevant page on UNESCO’s website: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3 344&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html to  languages,  celebrated  International  MotherLanguage  Day  (21  February)  with  moreemphasis then usual  and established an on-linelist  of  relevant  projects.  The  list  containspresently  170  projects,  29  of  which  areconnected to endangered languages.  During the180th Executive Board a thematic debate will beheld  with  the  title  “Protecting  Indigenous  andEndangered  Languages  and  the  Role  ofLanguages in Promoting Education for All in theContext of Sustainable Development”.9Convention  for  the  Safeguarding  ofIntangible  Cultural  Heritage &endangered languagesThe activities presented so far are examples ofUNESCO’s  role  as  a  catalyst  of  ideas,  adisseminator  of  good  practices  and  a  capacitybuilder. But the Organization is also a standardsetter.  Especially  in  the  Culture  Sector,UNESCO  has  developed  some  conventions  –juridical instruments with a binding character –that attract a lot of attention from governments,specialists and the public at large. Of  the  existing  UNESCO  instruments,  theConvention  for  the  Safeguarding  of  IntangibleCultural  Heritage is  the  most  relevant. ThisConvention, adopted in 2003 and in force since2006 has  been  ratified  by  97  countries  (figurefrom June 2008). This Convention is the youngersister of the World Heritage Convention (1972)with  its  well  known  World  Heritage  List.Languages  as  such  are  not  named  in  the  (notexhaustive) list of domains of intangible culturalheritage, but ‘oral traditions and expression’ arelisted. This means that a language in itself cannotbe said to be protected by the Convention, butheritage  that  uses  a  language  as  its  vehicle  isprotected.  In  the  process  of  drafting  thisConvention,  some  countries  objected  toincluding languages as such, presumably out offear that this might fuel separatist tendencies ofminorities.Because both the Convention and the activitiesfor  endangered  languages  fall  under  the  sameIntangible  Cultural  Heritage  Section  in  theUNESCO  Secretariat,  the  ties  between  theConvention  and  the  Endangered  Languages9 See back ground document 180 EX/INF.8 Thematic Debate: Protecting Indigenous and Endangered Languages and the Role of Languages in Promoting Education for All in the Context of Sustainable Development, 21 July 2008: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001614/16149 e.pdf Programme  are  very  close.  These  things  areimpossible  to  prove,  but  I  think  that  theincreased attention for endangered languages, isto  a  large  extent  provoked  by  the  enthusiasmwith which the  concept  intangible heritage  hasbeen  received  up  by  scholars  and  decisionmakers worldwide.Towards  a  Convention  forEndangered Languages?At  the176th  Executive  Board  (May  2007)Venezuela  made  a  proposal  to  set  up  aConvention  for  indigenous  and  endangeredlanguages10. Various Member States proved to bein favor of this idea, and the Board requested theDirector-General  to  undertake  a  “preliminarystudy  of  the  technical  and  legal  aspects  of  apossible international standard setting instrumentfor the protection of indigenous and endangeredlanguages”11. At the 179th Executive Board onlya basic outline of the preliminary report could bepresented12, because extra budgetary funding foran  expert  meeting  had  not  been  found.  TheSecretariat  will  inform the Executive Board onprogress  at  the  180th Executive  Board(September/October 2008), but it looks as if themessage will be the same.13 The road towards a10 176 EX/ 9 Preparation of a Convention for the Protection of Indigenous and Endangered Languages, 12 April 2007: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/001 /001 03/1 0360E.pdf11 See 176 EX/Decision  9: “The Executive Board […] requests the Director-General to conduct a preliminary study of the technical and legal aspects of a possible international standard-setting instrument for the protection of indigenous and endangered languages, includinga study of the outcomes of the programmes implemented by UNESCO relating to this issue, and to submit such a preliminary study to the Executive Board for examination at its 179th session; invites the Director-General to convene ameeting of experts, including representatives of indigenous peoples, to assist him in the preparation of such a preliminary study, and to seek extra budgetary funding for it.”. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/001 /001 08/1 0871E.pdf 12 See 179 EX/10 Report by the Director-General on a Preliminary Study of the Technical and Legal Aspects of a Possible International Standard-Setting Instrument for the Protection of Indigenous and Endangered Languages, including a Study of the Outcomes from the Programmes Implemented by UNESCO related to this Issue (28.03.08). http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/001 /001 86/1 8619e.pdf13 The report of the Director-General has already been published. It makes clear that new  UNESCO  convention  is  always  long  andbeset with difficulties, but the lack of progress inthis case,  at  the very beginning of the process,doesn’t augur well.Lack of enthusiasm doesn’t automatically meanthat  the  UNESCO  Secretariat  or  the  MemberStates  have  lost  interest  in  the  subject  ofendangered languages.  For example,  oppositioncan issue from the opinion that after the adoptionof  the  Conventions  for  Intangible  Heritage  in2003  and  for  Cultural  Diversity  in  2005,UNESCO  should  refrain  from  new  standardsetting initiatives for a while and focus efforts onratification  and  implementation  of  existinginstruments.Should  the  Foundation  for  EndangeredLanguages  wish  for  a  separate  Convention  forEndangered Languages,  or should it  be contentunder  the umbrella  of Intangible Heritage  (andpossibly canvass for revision of the text14 by theGeneral  Assembly  of  State  Parties  in  order  togive  languages  an  unambiguous  place  in  theConvention)?  A  Convention  ‘of  our  own’  cancreate  a  lot  of  attention  for  endangeredlanguages,  but judging from the process so far,there is  reason to fear  that  this instrument willnot  generate  the  amount  of  continued  supportfrom Member  States  required  to  turn  it  into  avital platform for action and discussion. If this isindeed  the  case,  then  the  pragmatic  option  towork  for  endangered  languages  in  the  moregeneral  framework  of  Intangible  Heritage  isclearly to be preferred.Vincent WintermansProject  coordinator  at the Netherlands NationalCommission for UNESCO.extrabudgetary funding, although pledged, has not been provided, so that the meeting, scheduled for the frst week of September 2008, will in all probability not be held. See: 180 EX/11 Report by the Director-General on a Preliminary Study of the Technical and Legal Aspects of a Possible International Standard-Setting Instrument for the Protection of Indigenous and Endangered Languages (21 July 2008)               http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001612/161299e.pdf 14 Very diffcult in practice, as this requires the agreement of all Parties to the Convention.

UNESCO and endangered languages

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UNESCO and endangered languages

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