Economic development affects the native language

Economic development is the "worst enemy" to the survival of native languages. This is the conclusion of a study published in the journal Biology Lettters (Biology) of the Royal Institution of September 2.

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Sociologists from the US and Europe have collected data on the number of speakers of a language, geographic location and the rate of increase or decrease of these people. They then considered the factors affecting the circulation of indigenous languages ​​such as globalization or environmental and socio-economic changes.

The results show that the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is related to the disappearance of linguistic diversity, in which the more economic development will lead to the rapid disappearance of language diversity.

In Alaska, before 2009 there were only 24 native speakers of Athabaskan.(Source: photoshelter.com)

According to sociologists, about a quarter of the 6,909 languages ​​known around the world are seriously threatened, especially in countries and regions with prosperous economies like Australia and North. America.

Specifically, in Alaska, before 2009 there were only 24 native speakers of Athabaskan while the children here were no longer learning to speak the language. Meanwhile, the Wichita language of North American Indians, who now primarily live in Oklahoma before 2008, has only one person who speaks this language fluently.

In Australia, Aboriginal languages ​​like Margu or Renbarunga are also facing the risk of "extinction" when the number of speakers of these languages ​​plummeted.

Explaining this issue, sociologists think that when the economy develops, a language will gradually dominate and dominate almost all areas such as politics and education. In this situation, people are also forced to learn this common language to adapt to the situation and not be isolated.

However, they emphasize that the less-used indigenous languages ​​still exist in countries with developed and developing economies and that these languages ​​need to be given proper attention so that they do not disappear. .

Experts also hope that the study will also contribute to the basic knowledge of origin as well as maintaining the cultural diversity of humanity.