Tibetan minority languages suffer particularly from the latter. Gerald Roche, an anthropologist who studies these languages, recently spoke with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about the disappearing languages of Tibet. He noted that in acknowledging only a single Tibetan language, the Chinese state has used it “as a tool of domination over other minority languages,” many of which are at risk of extinction.
mandag 3. mars 2025
Languages in Tibet Struggle for Survival
Friday marked the 25th International Mother Language Day, a UNESCO observance for promoting the preservation and protection of linguistic diversity. For Tibetan communities on the Tibetan plateau and in the diaspora, the issue is existential, as various structural forces continue to erode the health of their respective languages and cultures. Much of this problem stems directly from repressive government Sinicization policies, while part of it also due to downstream effects that reproduce the exclusionary dynamics of language usage.
Tibetan minority languages suffer particularly from the latter. Gerald Roche, an anthropologist who studies these languages, recently spoke with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about the disappearing languages of Tibet. He noted that in acknowledging only a single Tibetan language, the Chinese state has used it “as a tool of domination over other minority languages,” many of which are at risk of extinction.
Tibetan minority languages suffer particularly from the latter. Gerald Roche, an anthropologist who studies these languages, recently spoke with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about the disappearing languages of Tibet. He noted that in acknowledging only a single Tibetan language, the Chinese state has used it “as a tool of domination over other minority languages,” many of which are at risk of extinction.
