On Thursday morning we took the metro to the Universitat Barcelona to meet with Professor David Casals. Professor Casals gave us a great presentation about the importance of linguistic diversity within Spain and around the world. For instance, did you know that there are over 6000 languages in the world, but fewer than 300 of those languages have over 1 million speakers? Can you name the top 10? (Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese and German. French comes in at #16.) 96% of the world's languages are spoken by only 4% of the world's population--isn't that crazy? If the world were represented in a room of 100 people that knew 100 languages, 4 of those people would know 24 languages EACH (96 languages total), while the other 96 people in the room would know one to four of the last four remaining languages. (If you're reading this blog, you're one of the 96 people who only knows 1-4 of the "main" languages.) In fact, half of the world's languages are concentrated in 8 nation-states (or "countries", if that's better for you): Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, Mexico, Cameroon, Australia and Brazil.
In fact, some linguists (essentially, language scientists) are afraid that by the year 2100, half the world's languages will be extinct. Not dead, like Latin, where nobody speaks it daily but it's recorded in books. Extinct, like the dinosaurs, with little to no written record and nobody left who understands the language or knows its history. Why? Since the era of exploration began (circa 1300s), the conquerors forced their language upon the indigenous cultures they found. Indigenous speakers of these rare languages were killed by disease, war, famine, or maybe as they learned the new "main" language, they stopped speaking in their native tongue and didn't carry the tradition on with their children. Of course, most of these languages didn't have written records, and those that did were usually destroyed, sometimes singlehandedly: If you get some free time, look up bishop Diego de Landa and the Mayan language. In order to convert the Mayans to Christianity, he ordered the destruction of every Mayan book and school in the region. While he half-heartedly attempted to "record" some of the written glyphs through transliteration, it still didn't change the fact that 500 years later, there are only four original Mayan books in the world and centuries went by before anyone could decipher the language again.
So where does Catalan factor in in all of this? Well, Catalan is the co-official language of Catalonia (along with Castillian Spanish, known as castellano here). It is not, however, recognized officially by the country of Spain. The European Union has a policy that if a country is admitted to the Union, any and all of their official languages are also made to be official languages of the Union and acceptable for any political discourse and interaction at the international level. Spain's only officially recognized language is Spanish, so Catalan more or less doesn't count to the EU.
Look at it this way: Catalan has about 10 million speakers, most of which are concentrated in and around Barcelona, Spain's most prosperous city. By contrast, the island nation of Malta has 400,000 Maltese speakers (the other official language is English), and Maltese is an official language of the EU.
The good news is that in 2005, Catalan was issued a "semi-official" status by the European Union. All this means is that if Catalonia wants to draft a document to the EU, they can send it to Madrid (Spain's capital), who will translate it into Spanish so it will be accepted. Of course, this is both a great hassle and a bone of contention for Madrid (remember, Spain wants to dissuade Catalonia away from their "silly little independence and recognition thing"), so it's easier to just stick with Spanish. All of this would be made so much easier if Andorra just became a full member of the EU. Since Andorra's official language for all state business is Catalan, Catalan would automatically be recognized fully (another bone of contention for Spain). However, Andorra enjoys all the perks of being an EU ally without many of the bureaucratic regulations on industry, so that may not change anytime soon.
So what can you take away from all of this? Be linguistically sustainable. It's just ten very simple steps:
1) Respect all languages.
2) Observe and listen: Take an interest in the languages around you.
3) Don't be afraid to learn new languages; they'll only ever help you.
4) Don't renounce the source(s) of knowledge that different languages present.
5) Give voice to minorities and listen to them.
6) Don't impose dominant languages, replant threatened languages.
7) A small market might be a great gateway--don't overlook anyone!
8) Practice linguistic diversity on your travels (use phrases from the host country).
9) Preserve your space of freedom: No one can take your language from you if you don't want them to.
10) Don't exclude anyone from a language.
The last point is the most relevant for me. Here in Catalonia, people are both shocked and excited when I greet them in a few basic Catalan words or am able to understand a phrase or two. Language is the strongest bond that they all have to each other, and they are glad to share it with other interested people. It's said that you aren't always born Catalonian, but you can become one: live and work in the region, get to know the people and customs, and try to speak the language as best you can. If you do that, the local people here will embrace an immigrant from another culture just as well as they would someone whose family has been here for generations. I can't say the same for all languages or regions--some places have a defined ethnic identity with their language--but if you try just a little and show a real interest, people become a lot more hospitable just about anywhere.
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