human creativity or a god has been. What really matters is that language, as it is known today, is dying.

Language behaves like any other living things which are un-predictable. Plants and animals have appeared and disappeared over thousand centuries and these cyclical phenomena havent been fully explained without the so-called theory of human action. And compared to living things, languages evolve, grow, spread

and, eventually, they could wane like the Moon and even vanish.

As in natural processes, lan-guages sometimes are also replaced by their descendants. Looking back in history, we could fi nd several examples of those languages which have disap-peared in the last millennia. On the other hand, Ainu in Japan, Apiaka in Brazil, Chimicuro in Peru, Chemehuevi in the Western coast of US and others are almost dead languages and will be at the

top of the list quite soon.Language extinction is speeded

up nowadays for the same reasons as species extinction. Population decrease, political supremacies and confl icts, and the spread of industrialization are rushing processes which could have been slower or just different. But, there would be considered a natural factor too. These endangered languages sometimes coexist with other local or offi cial languages. Eventually, they are replaced as

Endangered languages

Tourist Offi ce 923 218 342923 268 571

SALMNTICA Tourist 609 486544Guides Asociation

AGOST Tourist 629 407300Guides Asociation

Rural Tourism Info 923 437 573Central Bus Station 923 236 717Train Information 902 240 202Taxi Information 923 250 000HERTZ Rent a Car 923 243 134AVIS Rent a Car 923 269 753

Emergency 112Local Police 092National Police 091 / 923 265 311Red Cross 923 221 032Universitary Hospital 923 291 100Salamanca City Hall 923 279 100Author: Yoemichel Domnguez Gutirrez

If we read in a newspaper that The worlds 6,000 languages will be dead or dying by 2050, we may think that such a state-ment sounds, in several ways, an exaggeration or even a joke. However, there are already more than 3,000 endangered languages in our world. Skeptical language defenders are still trying to ignore that in the recent future only fewer languages could be spoken worldwide.

Language is one of those out-standing skills in the humans world that is not easily conceptu-alized or framed in just one mean-ing. Experts mostly agree with its complexity and diversity, but not a single satisfactory concept has been established yet, effi ciently. Either would be the concept, today we will be dealing with the system of elements, which combined, can make possible communication between human beings: the spoken languages.

Many have claimed that lan-guage was given to mankind by gods. Others are sure that lan-guage is not exclusively to human beings, that animals and plants have the gift too. Others look for a scientifi c answer in the path of evolution. Nonetheless, it doesnt matter how prolifi c biology or

27 de marzo de 2015 18

its older speakers die and younger ones forget them or simply adopt a more useful one.

In the European Union, there is an increasingly concern for how English is becoming the most commonly spoken language in Europe, since it is the only one shared by Europeans. Speaking a universal language could be considered a great advantage as it allows people to communicate each other more easily. Neverthe-less, as we worry about biological complexity for our survival, we should also care identically for linguistic complexity for our cul-tural survival.

We have made efforts to bring back plants and animals that were almost extinct. Languages could too. Moreover, languages have an advantage over species because they can be raised from the dead even if they have already been wiped out. Maybe, only fewer languages could be spoken worldwide in the recent future because they will die, if they are not spoken or taught. It is in our hands not to lose any language because it means losing ourselves in that loss. Language diversity is as important as biological diver-sity, is as important as human life itself.

Many have claimed

that language

was given to

mankind by gods

We have made efforts

to bring back

plants and animals that

were almost extinct