Language carries a rich treasure of knowledge, protecting dying Pakistani languages a tough challenge.

ISLAMABAD -- Other than a medium of communication, language has always been instrumental in shaping identity and worldviews of native speakers alongside protecting their local values, cultural and literary heritage, indigenous knowledge and folk wisdom. However, the rapid changes during the last few decades have posed serious threats to the survival of many languages spoken all over the world.

Across the globe, more than 6,000 different languages are spoken, out of which, according to the Foundation for Endangered Languages, around 500 to 1,000 languages are spoken by a handful people only. Thus every year, the world loses around 25 mother tongues. It means that about 250 languages are lost over every decade.

Pakistan is rich in lingual diversity;The rich language heritage provides the country a reliable source of cultural strength, diversity and social capital.

However, amongst them, more than 20 languages are spoken only by a handful of people ranging from a few hundreds to a few thousands. Thus these languages are being faced with extreme danger of extinction. Initially, it used to be the forces of colonization that were looking down upon the local languages, now it is the power of globalization and modernity that has endangered the mother tongues of the local populace.

Talking to reporter, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Air University, Dr Wasima Shehzad has shared four steps to deal with the endangered Pakistani languages: Identification, Documentation, Preservation and Promotion.

She said, 'The languages that are extremely faced with extinction should be enlisted first while their characteristics including sounds, syntax, semantics, and grammar etc should be documented.' The speakers of the endangered language(s) should be encouraged to speak it, she added.

No one can deny the vital role of the mother tongue as it is the sole transmitter of the culture, tradition and distinctive human characteristics. The rich language heritage is a cultural asset and lack of its conservation would make the young generation foreigners to their mother tongues.

Dr. Muhammad Kamal Khan, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Allama Iqbal University, Islamabad...