By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
What if your mother tongue disappears due to a dearth of users? It may be no less than being deprived of the right to live, according to Hong Chai-song, the head of the Linguistic Society of Korea.
To tackle the issue of minority languages facing endangerment, linguists from all around the world will gather in Seoul for the 18th International Congress of Linguists in July.
The congress, dubbed the Olympics of linguistics, will be open July 21-26 at Korea University. The congress, held every five years, will convene for the second time in Asia, following in Japan in 1982.
Under the theme of ``Unity and Diversity of Languages,'' participants will emphasize that keeping diversity of language is the same as keeping diversity of culture, Hong said.
``Language is universal in that all human beings use it. At the same time, it is said there are 7,000 languages currently. Researchers have studied how they are different and how they have been developed and become extinct,'' said Hong, French language and literature professor at Seoul National University.
In the last 20 years, many languages used by a small number of people, such as a language specific to a tribe in the outback, have disappeared. ``Just like biologists study endangered species and try to prevent their extinction, linguists study such languages, try to keep them and store data about them,'' Hong said.
``If a person cannot use his or her mother tongue, the person would feel as if he or she were being deprived of his or her right to live. Some studies regard `language rights' as part of human rights,'' he said. The year 2008 is International Year of Languages designated by the United Nations.
About 1,500 linguists will announce 850 theses on 19 themes. They include Suzanne Romaine, author of ``Vanishing Voices'' and a professor at University of Oxford; Laurence Horn, professor at Yale University; James Pustejovsky, professor at Brandeis University; and Jean Aitchison, a professor at Oxford.
After the congress, Seoul will host another international event on humanities, the World Congress of Philosophy from July 30 to Aug. 5.