Lost for words

Eye Culture

- KUMAR ABISHEK

Languages die not with a bang but a whimper: Word by word, speaker by speaker, until there's no one left to pass them on. "Languages have no existence without people," wrote British linguist David Crystal in Language Death, capturing how spoken tongues fade.

In India, over 250 languages have vanished in five decades, and nearly 400 more are facing extinction, according to the People's Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI). Unesco lists 197 Indian languages as endangered.

This is cultural deletion. Most language loss happens not by force but by choice. It begins when a parent drops Kurukh in favour of Hindi, believing it will help their child succeed. It continues when schools ignore Irula, Bhojpuri, or Kui—and punish students for using their native tongue. Today, children are more likely to recite "Twinkle Twinkle" than "Machli Jal Ki Rani Hai", let alone a rhyme in Bhili or Dogri.

Language slips when bureaucracy prizes Sanskritised Hindi or English, and scoffs at Bagheli or Awadhi. The message is unmistakable: Your language lacks worth. And eventually, people internalise that belief.