Endangered languages under spotlight at HLF 2015

The Hyderabad Literary Festival, which will be organised between January 23 and 26, is aiming to focus the spotlight on endangered languages. In this regard, the HLF will have Prof. GN Devy, who chairs the ongoing People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI), speaking on the issue.

GN Devy, a former professor of English who was awarded the Padmashree last year, is also a renowned literary critic, an award-winning author and a cultural activist. He founded the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre at Baroda, and the Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh.

Since independence, India has lost nearly 250 languages and about 200 Indian languages are endangered at present. The rapidity of vanishing languages is an international concern – about 7 per cent of the world languages are in danger of disappearing.

What is lost and what does it mean when a language disappears? Why and how are languages falling out of use? Devy will discuss these questions at a plenary talk at HLF 2015, drawing attention to language preservation and linguistic diversity. At the session Devy will present the newly released volume of PLSI’s survey, devoted to the languages of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. PLSI is the first comprehensive linguistic survey since Independence, covering 780 living languages, and being published in 50 volumes. One of the main goals of the PLSI is to protect linguistic diversity, especially the languages of the fragile communities such as nomadic, coastal, island, hill and forest communities.