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Endangered Language Alliance Toronto

The Endangered Language Alliance (ELA) Toronto was formed in 2012 to celebrate the linguistic diversity that Toronto has and to raise awareness of the endangered language crisis globally. It is a collaborated organization with the Endangered Language Alliance New York. Toronto is a crowd puller for immigrants from all over the world and it is also one of North America’s most linguistically diverse cities. Toronto is home to more than 140 languages. ELA’s main focus is to document the different types of endangered and under-described languages through different channels of media, and to use them to educate people and collaborating communities. So far there has been about 10 documented endangered languages by the organization.

Endangered Languages

There are over six thousand languages spoken in the world, but at least half are in danger of extinction by the end of this century. This crisis occurs because languages and culture have always coincided, as a language dies off so does the culture and human knowledge. The heritage disappears with them as well. The reason being is that most endangered language speakers are moving away and migrating to urban areas across the world. The widespread urbanization then influences individuals to alter old cultural traditions. As transnational migrants are forced to learn the principal language of their new homes, people start forgetting or modifying their native language.

UNESCO: United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNESCO was created in 1945. It strives to build networks among countries. UNESCO’s Endangered Languages Program is to support local communities, experts and governments by organizing, creating and circulating information. The program provides tools for observing, supporting, evaluating status and the trends in linguistic diversity. It also facilitates policy advice, technical expertise, training and a platform for exchange and transfer of skills.

Effects of language loss

Effects of language loss during obsolescence (language loss) is that the language in effect undergoes changes as as speakers modify their speaking habits according to their new inhabitance. This gradually forces the loss of grammatical or phonological (sound system) complexities that are not found in the dominant language.