Ethnologue: Languages of the World is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It was first issued in 1951, and is now published annually by SIL International, a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization. SIL's main purpose is to study, develop and document languages for religious purposes and to promote literacy.
Languages spoken in India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-European languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians, both families together are sometimes known as Indic languages. Languages spoken by the remaining 2.31% of the population belong to the Austroasiatic, Sino–Tibetan, Tai–Kadai and a few other minor language families and isolates. India has the world's fourth highest number of languages (447), after Papua New Guinea (840), Indonesia (710), and Nigeria (524).
International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution 56/262 in 2002. Mother Language Day is part of a broader initiative "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world" as adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 May 2007 in UN resolution 61/266, which also established 2008 as the International Year of Languages. The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, 21 February is the anniversary of the day when the people of Bangladesh fought for recognition for the Bangla language. It is also celebrated in West Bengal, India.
The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: Language, the open access journal Semantics and Pragmatics, and the open access journal Phonological Data & Analysis. Its annual meetings, held every winter, foster discussion amongst its members through the presentation of peer-reviewed research, as well as conducting official business of the society. Since 1928, the LSA has offered training to linguists through courses held at its biennial Linguistic Institutes held in the summer. The LSA and its 3,600 members work to raise awareness of linguistic issues with the public and contribute to policy debates on issues including bilingual education and the preservation of endangered languages.
The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA) is an international organization founded in 1981 devoted to the study of the indigenous languages of North, Central, and South America.
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue; but many read and write in one language. Multilingualism is advantageous for people wanting to participate in trade, globalization and cultural openness. Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages has become increasingly possible. People who speak several languages are also called polyglots.
Maurice Tadadjeu was a Vice-President of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council of Central Africa.
The Endangered Language Fund (ELF) is a small non-profit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut. ELF supports endangered language maintenance and documentation projects that aim to preserve the world’s languages while contributing rare linguistic data to the scientific community.
Ganesh N. Devy is an Indian literary critic and former professor. He is known for the People's Linguistic Survey of India and the Adivasi Academy created by him. He is credited to start the Bhaashaa research and Publication Centre. He writes in three languages—Marathi, Gujarati and English. His first full length book in English After Amnesia (1992). He has written and edited close to ninety books in areas including Literary Criticism, Anthropology, Education, Linguistics and Philosophy.
Linguistic rights are the human and civil rights concerning the individual and collective right to choose the language or languages for communication in a private or public atmosphere. Other parameters for analyzing linguistic rights include the degree of territoriality, amount of positivity, orientation in terms of assimilation or maintenance, and overtness.
Marja-Liisa Olthuis is an Inari Sámi linguist, academic, translator, and writer, who currently lives in the Netherlands with her Dutch husband and children. She received the Israel Ruong Scholarship from the Sámi Institute in 1999. On April 14, 2007, she became the first Inari Sámi to successfully defend a doctoral thesis about the Inari Sámi language in Inari Sámi. On 21 February 2020 she was awarded the Linguapax Prize.
Jerzy Jarosław Smolicz AM, also known as J. J. "George" Smolicz, was a Polish-born sociologist and educationalist acknowledged widely as a major contributor to cultural understanding in Australia. A key figure in developing and implementing Australia's multicultural and language policies, he was a Senior Consultant on Multiculturalism to the Fraser government and for 20 years was Chair of the Multicultural Education Committee in South Australia.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs is the ministry in the Government of India which was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and created on 29 January 2006. It is the apex body for the central government's regulatory and developmental programmes for the minority religious communities and minority linguistic communities in India, which include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains notified as minority religious communities in The Gazette of India under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
Neville Edward Alexander was a proponent of a multilingual South Africa and a former revolutionary who spent ten years on Robben Island as a fellow-prisoner of Nelson Mandela.
Margaret Florey is an Australian linguist whose work focuses on the revitalization and maintenance of Indigenous Australian languages. She has documented changes in contemporary speech, such as the expression Yeah, no which is becoming more prevalent in Australia.
Zubair Torwali is a community activist, linguist and educator based in Bahrain, Pakistan who has sought to preserve and promote Pakistan's Dardic cultures and languages. He has authored and supervised a number of books in and about Torwali. His book in English, Muffled Voices, provides insight into Pakistan's social, cultural, and political issues. Zubair Torwali is the Editor of "We Mountains" magazine which covers the culture of the Pakistani Himalayas. The author is a prolific writer of research papers and articles written for English dailies and weeklies of Pakistan. He is the founder of Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi, an organisation promoting the rights of marginalised language communities of northern Pakistan. He is author, researcher and public speaker. He is a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a Fellow of Japan's 2013 Asian Leadership Fellow Program and was shortlisted for the International Bremen Peace Award 2015. Mr. Torwali is also a Public Peace Prize laureate “…for his extraordinary commitment to giving a voice to the unheard by helping increase literacy in the indigenous people of Northern Pakistan”. He was awarded the 2012 Hellman-Hammett Grant by Human Rights Watch." In 2021 I.B.T. whose Director is Zubair Torwali was chosen for the Linguapax International Award. A graduate of Jahanzeb College in Swat, Pakistan, he has completed master's studies at University of Peshawar.
Tove Skutnabb-Kangas is a Finnish linguist and educator. She is known for coining the term linguicism to refer to discrimination based on language.
Eastern Kata-vari also locally known as Shekhani is a variety of the Kata-vari language spoken in Chitral district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The Kamviri language is also known as Shekhani. The Khowar name for the dialect is Sheikhwar which means "Language of the Sheikhs or converts." Some linguists consider Shekhani or Eastern Kata-vari a different language due to the isolation from other Nuristani languages other than Kamviri. Kamviri Shekhani is different than Eastern Kata-vari which is also called Shekhani.
