An endangered language is one that is likely to be extinct in near future. Extinction of a language is a great cultural loss for the language community.The 2010 edition of UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger shows that almost 2464 languages worldwide are moving towards extinction.It shows that almost 230 languages have become extinct since 1950. It is estimated that by the end of this century more than 90% of these languages might be extinct. 

It has classified the endangered languages into four categories:

• Vulnerable m Most children speak the language (restricted to domains like home)

• Definitely endangered children don’t learn the language as mother tongue

• Severely endangered   language spoken by older generation like grandparents; the parents may understand but do not speak to the children

• Critically endangered grandparents and older generations are the youngest speakers and they too speak the language infrequently

In India there are 197 languages which have been classified as endangered. Of these, Kharia (in some versions Kheria)         is classified as a vulnerable language by the Atlas. It belongs to the Munda family of the Austroasiatic language. It is spoken by the Sabar-Kheria community in the districts of Purulia, Bankura and Midnapore in West Bengal, in Gumla and Simdega districts of Jharkhand, in Surguja and Raigarh districts of Chattisgarh and Sundargarh district of Odisha. It is also spoken in Assam, Tripura and Andaman & Nicobar Islands and also in Nepal. The total number of speakers is 297614. In Purulia, it is spoken by the community in and around Rajnoagarh, Buglidi, Burabazar and ManbazarII.This paper will try to analyze the probable causes of the gradual extinction of Kharia language. It will also try to focus on how some steps toward revitalization of the language are being undertaken by some members of the community.

Why Do Languages die?

There are many factors that are responsible for the death of a language. Languages die with the physical loss of almost all the speakers of the language because of war, genocide, natural disasters, spread of infectious diseases, or reprisals. The spread of infectious diseases among the members of the community leads to the death of the language because of the death of the speakers. For example, in 1997 the Jarwas of Andaman and Nicobar Islands were infected with the germs of measles which took the form of an epidemic leading to the death of Jarwas in multitudes. The Pipil speakers in El Salvadore stopped to talk in their mother tongue in 1932 because of reprisals. Displacement and merging with the dominant population are also responsible for language death, though there is a different opinion too. Some linguists think that displacement also helps in the preservation of language and prevents language death. It has been found that displacement is one of the causes of the decline of the Kharia language. The Kharias (Sabars) have been compelled to move to different areas because of economic and social compulsions. From the British period, the Kharias have been thought of as anti-socials who were involved in various sorts of crime. Even after Independence, there was no change in the attitude of both the government and the public. It is only recently that the government has taken measures to uplift their conditions. The government had built some houses for them away from their own places. The younger generations have been shifted there with the hope that they will mingle with the general public. In most of the cases it has been a failure but at the same time it has led to the death of the language. Some of them had been admitted to the schools under the government initiative and had been forced to abandon the language.

Languages die because of economic reasons too. It is often that the young generation chooses to learn the dominant language at the cost of the mother tongue because of social and economic reasons. Since learning the dominant language gives them more chance to earn their livelihood, often the parents also encourage them to learn the language. Even there are instances where we find that the parents think that even speaking the mother tongue would slow down the acquisition of the economically precious language. So lingocide, as coined by B.B. Kachru, is another main reason for the death of a language. It would be very easy to explain the effect of lingocide by the help of English and any Indian language, say Bangla in this case. It is often noticed that children are more interested in learning English than Bangla because of social and economic reasons. Even there are households, and most unfortunately quite a lot, where they even communicate among themselves in English and not in Bangla. In big cities and metropolis, it is a common picture. In the same manner, Bangla and Hindi have entered into the house of the Kharias.

Conquest and colonialism is another cause of language death. It is the language of the conqueror or the colonialist which naturally becomes more important and the natives are forced to adopt the new language. In India we have seen it once during the Muslim rule which gave birth to the dominance of Urdu and again during the British rule which gave birth to the dominance of English. This is mainly because of the financial advantages like opportunities in job markets and other facilities. Under such circumstances the emergence of bilingualism takes place but with the passage of time the younger generation gradually becomes attracted to the language of the colonizer. Many languages around the globe have died because of European colonialism. In India almost all the languages have lost importance to English because of the British rule.

Impact of the Death of a Language

What happens if a language is lost? Even if a language dies, its speakers do not die all the time. They speak in a different language. But the death has an effect on the culture of mankind as a whole. Language creates an identity. The mother tongue or the native language binds the speakers together. “Language plays a major role in defining ourselves in relation to, and in contrast with, others” [1]. Language has a positive influence. Reacquiring the mother tongue provides “an emotional experience and sense of pride and identity”. According to D. Crystal, “Language is the primary symbol, or register, or index of identity” (39). Many cultural practices often die with the death of a language because an endangered language often does not have any written literature because mostly they do not have a written form even. So with the death of the language the oral history is also lost and along with it the oral forms of literature like folk songs and folk tales also die.

Another important point is that knowledge of nature is also lost because of language death. It has been found that the speakers of endangered languages live in areas which have very rich flora and fauna. These people have specialized knowledge of the importance of trees and plants in the area which is often unknown to the people outside their community. It has also been noticed that they have their own knowledge of predicting natural phenomenon by observing certain changes in the agents of nature like the birds and other animals. But as this knowledge is transmitted orally, the wisdom also dies with the death of the language. It has been noticed that there is no record of death of a single Jarwa in Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the Tsunami in 2004.

How to Prevent the Death of a Language

Several steps should be taken to protect a language from dying. “Elevating the prestige of a language is required to keep a language from being abandoned” [1]. The urge to save the language should come from the speakers themselves. The educated persons of the community should try to convince the young generation to speak the language. “An increase in prestige can be achieved in many different ways, including the use of the language in media and technology, official government recognition for the language, and increased economic status of its speakers” [1]. 

Mr. Gopiballav Singhdeo, a member of the royal family and a teacher by profession, had fought throughout his life for the rights and privileges of the Kharia Sabar community. Mr. Singhdeo was more popularly known as “Sabar Pita”. The Kharia Sabars had been stigmatised as thieves and anti-socials by the British and most unfortunately this stigma continued even after the Independence. Mr. Singhdeo wanted to free them from this stigma and struggled to rehabilitate them into the mainstream society. On 7 January 1968 he established the ‘Sabar Samity’ in the Kuda village of Manbazar. On 10 November 1983, he renamed it “Paschim Banga Kharia Sabar Kalyan Samiti” and established its office at Rajnoagarh. It isworth mentioning that Mahasweta Devi was associated with this organization from 1983 till her death. Prof. Gayatri Spivak is also associated with this NGO. She is an Honorary Advisor. She had joined in 1989. She used to fund the running of 5 schools and the mid-day meals of the students of those 5 schools. Now we are all familiar with the concept of mid-day meals but in 1989 this concept was totally unthought-of. In the schools, the young generation is encouraged to speak their language. There are regular classes which aim at preserving their mother tongue. At present, under the able leadership of the Director, Mr. Prasanta Rakshit, the association has taken a number of steps to preserve and promote the language. Sabar Mela is organized once a year. During the fair, there are programme which include songs and drama in the Kharia language. Discussions are held in the Kharia language covering areas like health, sanitation, nutrition, agriculture, and even Pulse-Polio. As drinking country wine is very common in the community, there are regular discussions to make them aware of the ill effects of drinking. Tagore’sGitanjali has been translated into Kharia (Sabar) by Prasanta Rakshit, Jaladhar Sabar, Bholanath Sabar, Kharu Sabar , and Fatik Kumar Hembram. It has been edited by Mr. Prasanta Rakshit and published by Visva-Bharati as Gitoraanjuraa. Sabar Lokagan O Lokakatha is a collection of Sabar folksongs and folktales, collected and translated into Bangla by Mr. Prasanta Rakshit, edited by Mahasweta Devi, and published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi in2013. Mr. Prasanta Rakshit has also edited a dictionary Sabar Bhasa Avidhan. When the whole world is suffering from the pandemic of Covid19, the association has composed songs on Corona Virus in Kharia to make them aware of this disease. These songs are being sent to the mobile phones of the members of the community also. All these are actually steps to prevent the language from being extinct.

On a smaller scale, Mr. Nirmal Sabar, the only graduate of the Kharia speaking community has established a school in Sindri village of Purulia district and named it ‘Swapner Schoolbari’ (Dream School). He has twenty-five students in the school who are taught their endangered mother tongue along with other subjects. The journey has just begun in 2019 and it is expected that ‘Swapner Schoolbari’ will also move forward in preserving the language.

Radio can play a very important role in revitalizing the language. “The speakers will not only have more opportunities to hear their language, but they will be hearing it in a context often associated with higher economic and social standing” [1]. The Guatemala Radio Project supports the community radio stations to broadcast programme related to health, education and other issues. 

Providing government recognition is another significant step to save a language from dying. It not only provides prestige to the language but also makes the language more valuable in public estimation. Establishing bi-lingual schools like the ‘Swapner Schoolbari’ and other classes for both children and adults is another step. And finally “linguists who study endangered languages can provide knowledge about what programme have worked for other communities” [1].

Death of a language is an irreparable loss to mankind at large.As a result of which since 1993 UNESCO has taken initiative throughout the world to preserve the endangered languages. UNESCO in 2002-2003 “asked an international group of linguists to develop a framework for determining the vitality of a language in order to assist in policy development, identification of needs and appropriate safeguarding measures” (Atla,5). So both linguists and existing speakers of the community should come forward to prevent the death of a language

1. Hoffmann, M. Endangered languages, linguistics, and culture: Researching and reviving the Unami language of the Lenapi. Bryn Mawr College, 2009.
2. Crystal, D. Language death. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
3. Nettle, D., and S. Romaine. Vanishing voices: The extinction of the world’s languages. Oxford University Press, 2000.
4. UNESCO. Atlas of the world’s languages in danger. UNESCO, 2010.
5. Wael, A.A. “Why should we care about language death.” International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, vol. 5, 2017, pp. 62–73.