Indigenous languages ​​of Mexico, the theme of “afternoon science”: ultraviolet rays

Writing at zero hour

Lucero Flores Nájera, of the Institute of Anthropology at the University of Veracruzana (UV), will participate on Tuesday, February 22nd, at 5:00 PM, in “Science Afternoons” with a virtual conversation “Indigenous languages ​​of Mexico”.

With this talk by the specialist in Nahuatl morphosyntax and documentation, the first season 2022 of the science dissemination program promoted by the Directorate General of Research (DGI) opens.

The talk will be broadcast Facebook Live On “Saturdays in Xal Science”, and through the virtual room Cisco Webex: https://sabadosenlaciencia.webex.com/meet/tardesdeciencia.

This meeting comes within the framework of the International Mother Language Day, which is celebrated on February 21, a date announced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to encourage and promote business development.

Lucero Flores, who emphasized that her participation in this program lies in the importance of educating the community in general about the bilingual, linguistic and cultural diversity of Mexico.

Lack of knowledge is one reason that reinforces discrimination against speakers and members of each of the 68 ethnic groups present at the national level.

This also leads to the loss of mother tongues. Mexico, for example, ranks fourth in the world with the largest number of them. In the particular case of Veracruz, it is the third most diverse state, after Chiapas and Oaxaca, where eight percent of its population speaks an indigenous language.

Lucero Flores, a teacher and physician of American Indo-linguistics who specializes in the documentation of Nahuatl from Tlaxcala—where she originated—and from Rafael Delgado, Veracruz, has commented that there is no official language in Mexico, either Spanish, indigenous languages, or signs considered national.

“Legally they have the same status as Spanish and should be used in both educational, judicial and health fields.”

Therefore, this hadith will be appropriate to announce certain situations that prevent the application of these regulations in the speaking regions.

Attendees, for their part, will have a broader focus on the indigenous languages, their number and the areas in which they are practiced, and how they can contribute to their strength, revitalization and survival.

Worldwide there are about seven thousand languages, half of which are spoken by a minority, while the rest are spoken by millions of people, such as English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Hindi and others.

Unfortunately, 40% of the world’s languages ​​are in danger of disappearing.

Lucero Flores said that in the case of Mexico, there are many discrepancies regarding the number of indigenous languages, where the numbers differ.

The fact is that according to the National Institute of Indigenous Languages ​​(inali), there are 68 indigenous groups comparable to ethnic groups, and 364 language variants, which should be considered as national languages.

“In Veracruz, as the languages ​​of the historical settlement, which have been spoken since before the arrival of the Spaniards, there are about 11 languages ​​but we know that they are relative due to immigration.”