Technology creating the space for the minority languages to grow

In the 21st century, there is much ado about the pros and cons of the wide-scale use of technology in diverse fields like finance and banking, engineering and automation, and even the language and translations. Daniel Boorstin, in his book The Republic of Technology, quite rightly observed that technology would rob us of all the awe and wonder we perceive the world. True that it is, science and technology gave us a clear picture of how the natural phenomena occur. Technologically has brought the best translators in Delhi, linguists from Columbia, and anthropologists from London and others from different corners of the world together bringing the endangered languages back to life. And, the language translation agencies operating all across the world have a great role to play in it.

What is language extinction?

A language is called an extinct language where it, no longer, has any speaker or living descendant. And, a particular language is called an endangered language if it is on the verge of going extinct in the coming future because it is longer used by either native community or any other. The growing popularity and universality of English are replacing the essence of indigenous language as more and more people are abandoning their mother tongue to learn English in the competitive age of globalization. More importantly, no new generations are learning these native and indigenous languages, hence, deciding their fate. The language becomes extinct whenever its last speaker dies and nobody else knows it or speaks it.

What are minority languages?

All those languages which are spoken by less than 50% of the country, state, or region’s total population falls under the category of minority languages. Will it be counted as a minority language or majority language remains at the sole discretion of the population residing in a geographical context. That’s the reason why a minority language in India can be a majority language outside like in Great Britain or the United States of America.

The role of technology

The continual technological innovations encourage globalization and tourism, which in turn, promotes the use of the English language, posing a threat to the language of ethnic and indigenous groups of natives. But as it brings people together and provides a platform to the unheard voices, technology is also giving space to the minority languages to grow. It has led to the burgeoning of language translation agencies all across the globe who not only are helping people communicate in each other’ languages, but are also reviving the long lost languages with their language translation services.

The extinction of a language is synonymous with the loss of many innovative ideas. And, the technology and language translation agencies are working in tandem to secure the heritage of a language and its culture.