Centre opens to 'save' languages

Work is being done to protect two Mayan languages in Guatemala

A centre to carry out research into saving "endangered" languages from extinction is to be opened.

Around 6,000 tongues are spoken in the world but one disappears every fortnight, according to researchers.

The Princess Royal will open the centre, which is based at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, on Wednesday.

It will house the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages project, which is backed by a £20m grant.

The young are starting to look at (old languages) afresh and find them exciting Professor Peter Austin

The project - one of a number at the centre - carries out research, training and archiving of endangered languages.

It is supported by a £20m grant from the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund and is the largest project of its kind in the world, said a spokesman.

The programme hopes to record many of the world's most endangered languages, and ultimately to help preserve them.

Project director Professor Peter Austin said a greater linguistic knowledge and a closer relationship between researchers and the communities using endangered languages is helping preservation efforts.

And greater use of technology, such as the internet and CD-ROMs, is engaging more and more people with their own threatened languages, he added.

Mayan languages

He said: "There are many who paint a picture of doom about the world's languages and cultures.

"While there is a serious threat to many, the work that will be carried out in this new centre should give us all cause for optimism."

He said new ways of working were beginning to bring new life to old languages.

"The young are starting to look at them afresh and find them exciting. This gives us hope for the future," he said.

The Endangered Languages Documentation Programme is already administered by the School of Oriental and African Studies.

In its first two years it has supported work on more than 40 languages, including two Mayan tongues in Guatemala, Archi in the Caucasus, Siwi - an isolated Berber language of Egypt - and the Vures language of west Vanua Lava, Vanuatu.