Today, February 21, is International Mother Language Day.
An opportunity to rediscover one's own language and learn more about its origins.
Sardinian, in particular, has been protected since 1999 by the law relating to linguistic minorities, in its various forms and thanks to its grammatical specialities.
Why was February 21 chosen? The date was established by UNESCO in 1999 with reference to the events of 1952: Bengali students at the University of Dhaka, the capital of present-day Bangladesh, were killed during demonstrations demanding that Bengali be recognized as the official language of the then Pakistan.
“Languages – writes the UN – are the most powerful tool for the conservation and development of our tangible and intangible heritage. All actions undertaken to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education, but also to develop full awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to stimulate solidarity, based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue”.
There are numerous municipalities on the island committed to protecting Sardinian with initiatives that also include in-depth courses on the origin and evolution of the Romance language.
(Unioneonline/ss)
