Thesis Statement
Language depicts as well as enriches the culture of a community. In essence, this is what informs linguistic, the study of languages. Linguistic is premised on creating a better comprehension of languages, promoting usage of languages and preserving the endangered languages in the society.
Egypt is multi-lingual country, comprising some forms of Arabic and a host of other languages. As such, challenges that come about with having many languages being used in a region are experienced. Some languages have become endangered due to the modernization brought about by globalization in the world.
Developing countries are growing ever susceptible to the influence of the West.English is the official language in most international organizations such as the United Nations. Therefore, many countries are adopting English as the main language of communication so as to fit in the global sphere. Local languages lose their relevance, causing them to be endangered.
Egypt is not isolated from this predicament. It faces similar challenges in relation to its languages. Egypt is faced with the growing need to be part of the globalizing world as well as preserving its languages and hence, its cultural identity.
With a dilemma at hand, Egypt has adopted a ken of measures to ensure the integrity of its culture through preservation of culture. This paper delves into the actions adopted by Egypt to preserve its languages and protect the endangered languages. Further, to the effectiveness of measures adopted despite not having a comprehensive framework formulated to preserve and protect languages.
Introduction
Egypt has a population made up mainly of persons of Arabic descent. Their official language is Egyptian Arabic. However, other languages like Sa’idi Arabic, Bedouin Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Domari, Nobiin, Bedawi and Siwi are used by a smaller fraction of the population. English, French and German are also used in the education field and in business circles.
It is from the aforementioned observations, that this paper is based. The paper will cover some of the measures implemented by Egypt both at a domestic and international level. At the domestic level, focus will be on projects that the Egyptian government has embarked on, on its own as well as in partnership with private sector. Further, the paper analyzes the benefits or challenges that have accrued. In the international arena, the paper discusses the role which Egypt has played towards preserving linguistic diversity and protection of endangered languages. The benefits and challenges at the international level are also assessed. Support and opposition towards the same is also covered.
Finally, analyses how effective Egypt has been in preserving linguistic diversity and protecting endangered languages.
Domestic Intervention and Case Studies
Egypt has played an active role in addressing the issues at the domestic level as will be illustrated by the case studies discussed below. It has been either by the government alone or in liaison with companies in the private sector.
Egypt has adopted Arabic as it official language of communication. This has been entrenched in a provision in the constitution indicating the significance attached to the language. Indeed, the language does form an integral part of its culture. We begin from the premise that has a number of languages that are spoken in the country though Arabic is by far the most popular language in the Islamic country. Further, a distinction must be made between the official languages in the country and the spoken languages. The English language stands as the most commonly used official language in the nation and this is evidenced by the numerous street plates which are marked in both Arabic and in English. The other official languages used in the country are French and German, which are mostly used in the business circles as well as in the education sector. On the other hand, Egypt Arabic is the most popular spoken language in the country. This position could have obtained owing to the arrival of the Arabs in the nation in the 7th Century. Before then, the inhabitants of Egypt spoke Coptic had upon the conquest of the nation by the Arab ion the 7th Century, both Arabic and Coptic languages were spoken for a period of time. The fading away of the Coptic language which was fast being replaced by Arabic was mainly due to increased Islamization and Arabization. However, the Egypt Arabic language is not spoken in the whole of Egypt though a majority of the Egyptians understand the language. The Saidi Arabic language is the most popular spoken language in Southern Egypt for the majority of the rural people. The fact that the Egyptian Arabic language is the most understood of the spoken dialects in the country could be due to the influence of the cinema in all Arabic speaking nations. As the lingua franca of the nation, Egypt Arabic is at particular times written in Arabic script.
In addition, there are other minor languages that are spoken in Egypt. For instance, an estimated 77,000 people who live along the coast of the Red Sea in the Eastern Desert speak in the Beja language. More so, around 234,000 Dom people who are mainly situated in Cairo and Luxor speak in the Domari language which is an Indo-Aryan language which is related to Romany. Further, a variety of the Berbers totaling to around 15,000 inhabiting the Siwa oasis speak in the Siwi Berber language. In fact, it is this tribe of the Berbers that at one time formed the bulk of the people in Western Egypt.
Majority of its people are Muslims and they have the Koran written in Arabic. This exemplifies the importance of Arabic to the populace. This acceptance has further been buttressed by the fact that Egypt is an Islamic state governed by sharia law. Arabic has also been fully accepted by persons belonging to other religious groups, including Christians.
Arabic is the official language used in parliamentary proceeding. There are round 340 million indigenous speakers of Arabic and is a Romance language. In Egypt alone, the language is spoken by over 52 million people. It is also used in all government departments and institutions in the country. The private sector also uses the language in the business circles. The education sector and military also use Arabic for communication.
Egypt has managed to sustain the relevance of Arabic in the education sector. As the world becomes a global village, there is a threat of indigenous languages due to the introduction of English. English is perceived as being the ideal language to facilitate business transactions in the world. However, Egypt has successfully retained Arabic language in the education curriculum thus, promoting the language.
In view of illustrations given, the adoption of Arabic as the official languages is effective towards addressing the issues of protection of linguistic diversity and preservation of endangered languages.
Egypt has also established institutions for linguistic studies that are geared at preserving and modernizing the Arabic language. One such institution is the Academy of Arabic Language. Such studies are meant to protect the language and promote its usage in all spheres. Moreover, it assists in better comprehension of the language.
The government in alliance with companies has moved to address the issues. For instance, the government through the Ministry of Culture in partnership with IBM successfully implemented a project in 2009 to preserve the national archives in the country. It entailed creating a website to provide online access to materials which are mainly in Arabic language. The website is to serve as an educational resource in the education and research sector. One of the aims was to increase content in Arabic language in the internet and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the National Archives.
Premised on the aforementioned reasons, it is clear that it will achieve much more since it will promote the Arabic language. It also secures the position of the language in the world by increasing the availability of Arabic content. It exhibits a two-fold benefit, at the domestic and international level.
The illustrations discussed above, are a picture of the role Egypt has played to address the issues.
International Intervention and Case Studies
Taking it from the latter case discussed, Egypt has been crucial in addressing the issues in the international arena. Egypt increased the content of Arabic language content on the internet by establishing the National Archives website. This initiative has been helpful in promoting the Arabic language in the international community. It is also beneficial to Egyptians living abroad in facilitating them retain their cultural identity through their language.
Egypt celebrates the United Nations Arabic Language Day on the 18th day of December. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established the day to commemorate its adoption of Arabic as an official language. This day is as well to acknowledge the significance of the language in the society and to promote its usage.
Egypt has participated in conventions geared to addressing the issues. Its role has not been merely participation but, also ratification of the conventions exemplifying the importance with which it holds the issues. Some of the conventions include those of United Nations Agencies.
Egypt ratified the International LaborOrganization (ILO) Convention No. 107 which was among the first initiative of safeguarding the indigenous languages of communities. The convention remains in force in Egypt. Later ILO Convention No. 169 was formulated to address the issues adequately. It was meant to promote maintenance and the development of identities, languages and religions of indigenous people.
These are some of the roles that Egypt has played in the international sphere.
United Nations (UN) Resolutions
The ILO spearheaded addressing the issues through the conventions mentioned above as well as through the adoption of UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People in 2007. UNESCO has also played a part through the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and the UN Resolution 56/262.
Support and Opposition
Not all countries have been forthcoming in addressing the issues. For instance, the ILO Convention No. 107 was ratified by 27 countries while No. 169 by 19 countries shows how unwilling states are to protect their indigenous languages.
On the other hand, countries in the West would prefer others to adopt the English language and abandon their indigenous languages. This has no place in modern society since no language is more significant than the other. All languages are of equal significance to their indigenous communities.
The UN should lobby all its members to adopt the conventions geared towards maintaining the rich culture embedded in its languages.
Conclusion
Indeed, Egypt has tried to preserve the linguistic diversity and protecting endangered languages. However, if Egypt had a comprehensive framework to address the issues, then it would have been more successful. There can be no replacement for proper planning and coordination.
Language is culture and culture is what defines us. As such it is incumbent upon us to preserve and protect our language.
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