Minority languages - why they are so important?

by John McIntyre

European Day of Language was Sunday September 26 and it's a day that is used to celebrate linguistic diversity, plurilingualism and lifelong language learning. There are two minority languages recognised and protected by the European Charter here - Ulster-Scots and Irish - but in addition to English, the other main dominant language is Cantonese.
Many people cannot understand the need for any other language apart from English in today's world.  However, the fact remains that accommodating minority language is increasingly important in European life.
The European Commissioner for Education and Culture, Viviane Reding, in 2003 proposed that each person in the EU should speak their mother tongue plus two other European languages.  This proved to be timely.  Earlier this year, the expanding European Union welcomed 75 million new citizens, bringing the EU population up to 450 million.  The number of official languages increased from 11 to 20. English, French and German still remain the working languages of the EU.   
New states also introduced 12 new indigenous European minority languages.  There are now 156 minorities in the EU, speaking 54 minority languages.   Minority language speakers number 38,000,000 or 8.5 per cent of the EU population.   Linguistic diversity is a key EU characteristic.
Northern Ireland is typical of much of Europe; we have English, Irish and Ulster-Scots.  In Britain we have Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Romany and from the islands there is Manx, Jerriais (Jersey French) and Guernesiais (Guernsey French).  This pattern of linguistic diversity is replicated in the majority of EU states.
The European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages, an NGO funded by the European Commission is concerned with conserving and supporting Europe's minority languages and their language communities.
Yiddish, for example, is a minority language spoken in five states; Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.  Some languages are both majority and minority languages.  German is an official state language but it is also a minority language in other states; the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Denmark (Schleswig), Italy (South Tyrol) and Belgium
Are minority languages important?  Why should we care about them?
Language has two major functions; one is communication and the other is the expression of identity.  Everyone cares about their identity, albeit some more than others.  Language reflects cultural distinctiveness and the character of a community.  It is also more important than music, painting, arts, technology, life style or other forms of self-expression in reflecting identity.  Language is ubiquitous in any society and it is the primary symbol of identity.
Our languages carry much of our history.  James Orr, the Ulster-Scots poet (1770-1816), wrote first hand accounts of the key events in his life.  He lived at a time when support for the American Revolution and the French Revolution was widespread in Ulster.  He sided with the New Licht views against that of the Auld Licht in the religious controversy raging in the 18-19th century Presbyterian church.
He fought in the 1798 rebellion and later went on the run and escaped to America on an emigrant sailing ship.  He experienced life as a newly-arrived immigrant in America and then returned to Ulster. At home he lived through the beginning of the decline in handloom weaving.  He had views on the 18-19th century landlord tenant relationship and he finally died in poverty.  He wrote about all of this and much of it is written in Ulster-Scots.  To access his writing we need an understanding of Ulster-Scots.  When a language is lost many links with our past are lost with it.  Languages like museums, galleries and historical buildings are repositories of information about our past.
Language is also an interpretation of human existence.  We can learn a lot from languages, including minority languages.  No one language can encapsulate the totality of human knowledge.  Every language adds something to it.  With each language that is lost a part of the mosaic of human knowledge is lost.  Melvin Bragg's recent television series on Channel Four, 'The Adventure of English', showed how Old English was nearly displaced by Norman French after William the Conqueror's invasion in 1066.   If Old English had been lost consider what we would have lost to-day: no Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Austen or Dickens.
Languages contribute to human diversity.  The strongest ecosystems are those that are the most diverse.  In relation to human development man's success in colonising the world is due to our ability to adapt and develop diverse cultures which can sustain themselves in all sorts of environments.  If diversity is essential to the success of man as a species preservation of linguistic diversity is also essential.
How we treat minority languages says much about us as a society.  It is a measure of our attitude towards minorities and commitment to protecting them as an indicator of how mature and successful we are as a modern society in 21st century Europe.

Belfast man John McIntyre is president of the UK Committee of the European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages and is a committee member of the Ulster-Scots Language Society.  He was one of a group who lobbied for Ulster-Scots to be included in the European Charter on minority and lesser used languages which gives it legal protection and jurisdiction.