International Mother Language Day: 21 February 2010

The International Mother Language Day, proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1999, has been observed yearly since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

The eleventh International Mother Language Day, on 21 February 2010, will be celebrated in the framework of the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures.

On the occasion of the Day, an International Symposium on Tanslation and Cultural Mediation is organized on 22 and 23 February 2010, by UNESCO. Read more

Book on the culture of Chitral published by FLI

A research book, titled “Kalkatak: A crossroads of Cultures in Chitral” penned jointly by Finnish anthropologist, Maarit Liljegren and Fakhruddin Akhundzada has been published.
The book is an ethnographical description of a village of Chitral based on research carried out by the authors. Read more

Children from a Mother-tongue based, multilingual education school in Kalam valley, district Swat

The Dangari Tongue of Choke and Machoke:
Tracing the proto-language of Shina enclaves in the Hindu Kush

Liljegren, Henrik (2009). The Dangari Tongue of Choke and Machoke : Tracing the proto-language of Shina enclaves in the Hindu Kush. Acta Orientalia 70: 7-62.. Click here

The death of a language
By Dr. Tariq Rahman

The report, brief as it is, set me thinking. It also made me sad. But why should one be saddened by the death of a language which probably existed only about a hundred years ago or so? Why should one bother at all? The answer is provided by a number of linguists who argue that the death of a language is the extinction of a worldview, of a certain identity, of local knowledge, of oral literature and sayings and songs etc—of all that which adds to our rich heritage. Click here

The last breaths of Kalasha in Kalkatak
By Fakhruddin Akhunzada

At the beginning of the last century, the language of Kalkatak was Kalasha, an Indo-Arya n language; and the language of an ancient tribe also called Kalasha, which today lives in three valleys in Chitral, Bumboret, Rumbur and Birir. There are only about a dozen elderly people living in Kalkatak who still know Kalasha, but these do not usually like to speak it. The Kalasha language will disappear from the village with the death of this handful of people.. Click here

Yidgha: An endangered language of Chitral
By Fakhruddin Akhunzada

The Yidgha language of Chitral is among the 23 languages of Pakistan which have recently been declared endangered by UNESCO. The language is spoken in Western Chitral, in Lutkoh Valley. The speakers, however, are now giving up the language to speak Khowar instead. Yidgha belongs to the Iranian group of languages. Click here