专题 | 土著语言：传递知识与希望的渠道【转发】
Minnie Degawan
文/明妮 · 德加文
转自“联合国教科文信使”公众号
Sharing the latest articles of the UNESCO Courier with you.
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For indigenous peoples, languages not only identify their origin or membership in a community, they also carry the ethical values of their ancestors – the indigenous knowledge systems that make them one with the land and are crucial to their survival and to the hopes and aspirations of their youth.
土著人的语言不仅可以表明他们的出身和族群归属，还传递着祖先的价值观 (让土著人与土地融为一体、对生存至关重要的土著知识体系) 以及土著青年的希望和愿景。
The state of indigenous languages today mirrors the situation of indigenous peoples. In many parts of the world, they are on the verge of extinction. The biggest factor contributing to their loss is state policy. Some governments have embarked on campaigns to extinguish indigenous languages by criminalizing their use – as was the case in the Americas, in the early days of colonialism. Some countries continue to deny the existence of indigenous peoples in their territories – indigenous languages are referred to as dialects, and accorded less importance than national languages, contributing to their eventual loss.
土著语言的状况折射出土著民族的处境。在全球许多地方，土著语言已濒临灭绝。造成土著语言消失的最大诱因是国家政策。一些国家规定使用土著语言属于刑事犯罪，他们希望借此彻底消灭土著语言，殖民时代初期在美洲就发生过这种情况。一些国家始终拒绝承认本国境内存在土著民族，土著语言被称为方言，地位低于国语， 由此加速了土著语言的最终湮灭。
But today, the major influence on the sorry state of their languages is the fact that indigenous peoples are threatened themselves.
不过，土著语言如今的穷途末路， 主要是由于土著民族自身正面临威胁。
Grave threats
严峻的威胁
The biggest threat comes from climate change, which is gravely impacting their subsistence economies. So-called development projects such as dams, plantations, mines and other extractive activities are also taking their toll, as are government policies that minimize diversity and encourage homogeneity. There is an increasing propensity of states to criminalize any dissent, resulting in more and more rights violations. We have witnessed an unprecedented rise in the number of indigenous peoples harassed, arrested, imprisoned, and even summarily executed for daring to defend their territories.
最大的威胁来自气候变化，气候变化严重影响到土著民族自给自足的经济模式。水坝、种植园、矿山和其他开采活动等所谓的开发项目，遏制多样性和鼓励同质化的政策，无不正在造成破坏。国家越来越倾向于将异议等同于犯罪，由此导致侵权事件层出不穷。我们看到，因勇敢捍卫本族领地而受到骚扰、逮捕、监禁，甚至处决的土著人数量空前增加。
What is often overlooked in discussions on these concerns is the impact of these threats on indigenous cultures and values. Indigenous peoples derive their identities, values and knowledge systems from their interaction with their territories, whether forests or seas. Their languages are shaped by their environment – it is their attempts to describe their surroundings that forms the bases of their unique tongues. Thus, when the territory is altered, changes also occur in the culture and eventually, in the language.
人们在讨论以上问题时，往往忽视了这些威胁对于土著文化和土著价值观的影响。无论是森林还是海洋，土著民族在与领地的互动当中逐步形成了自身的身份认同、价值观和知识体系。土著人身处的环境，塑造了他们的语言——土著人试图用语言来描述身边的环境，而这种环境正是构成其独特语言的基础。因此，一旦领地被改变，他们的文化也会发生变化，并且最终会影响到语言。
The Inuit, for example, have more than fifty terms for snow, each appropriately describing different types of snow, in different situations. Snow is a prime element that the Inuit live with, and therefore have come to know intimately. The same is true with the Igorot of the Cordillera in the Philippines when describing rice – from when it is but a seed ready for planting to when it is fully ripe and ready for harvesting, to when it is newly cooked and ready to be eaten and when it takes the form of wine.
以因纽特人为例。因纽特人有50多种关于雪的说法，分别用来在不同情况下精确描述不同类型的雪。雪是因纽特人生活中的一大要素，他们也非常熟悉雪。菲律宾科迪勒拉地区的伊戈罗族在描述稻米时同样有很多种说法——从准备种植的种子，到完全成熟、可以收割的大米 ; 从刚刚出锅的米饭，到用粮食酿成的米酒。
While new information and communication technologies could be used to enhance the learning process and provide tools to preserve indigenous languages, this is sadly not the case. Because indigenous peoples are considered minorities, their languages are often overlooked in positive efforts by governments to protect languages. For instance, in the Philippines, the government has launched the use of mother tongues in schools, but no resources are available in terms of teachers and learning materials to allow for indigenous children to be taught in their mother tongues. As a result, they end up mastering another language and eventually losing their own.
尽管可以利用新的信息和通信技术来强化学习过程，提供可以保存土著语言的工具，但遗憾的是，实际情况并非如此。由于土著民族被视为少数群体，政府在积极保护语言时往往会忽略土著语言。例如在菲律宾，政府号召在校内使用母语，但要使用母语为土著儿童授课，既缺少能够胜任的教师，也没有相应的学习材料。结果是，土著儿童掌握了另一种语言，却最终失去了自己的语言。
©️Patrick Willocq
Notions and values lost
概念和价值观的流失
In addition, because of years of discrimination, many indigenous parents choose to teach and talk to their children in the dominant languages – in order to create optimal conditions for their social success. Since their mother tongue is often used only by older people, an entire generation of indigenous children can no longer communicate with their grandparents.
此外，由于多年来遭受歧视，许多土著家长会选择教孩子学习主流语言，并且用这种语言和孩子交谈，目的是为子女在社交上取得成功创造最佳条件。通常只有老年人才会使用土著母语，由此造成整整一代土著儿童再也无法与祖父母交流。
In my community, the Kankanaey Igorot, we have the concept of inayan, which basically prescribes the proper behaviour in various circumstances. It encapsulates the relationship of the individual to the community and to the ancestors. It goes beyond simply saying “be good”; it carries the admonition that “the spirits/ancestors will not approve”. Because many of the young people now no longer speak the local language and use English or the national language instead, this notion and value is being lost. The lack of dialogue between elders and the youth is exacting a toll, not just in terms of language but in ancestral ethical principles.
我是伊戈罗族的坎坎纳人，我们的族群有一个概念—— “inayan”。这个概念基本上规定了各种情况下的正确行为，并且概括了个人与族群以及祖先之间的关系。“inayan”不仅是说“要做个好人”，它还表示某种训诫——“神灵 / 先人们是不会同意的”。 现在的许多年轻人已经不再说当地语言了，他们说英语或是国语，因此，“inayan” 蕴含的概念和价值观正在消失。老年人和青年人之间缺乏对话，损害的不仅仅是语言，更是世代相传的道德原则。
Keeping languages alive
保持语言的活力
However, with the growing global recognition of indigenous knowledge systems, the hope that indigenous languages will thrive and spread in spoken and written forms is being rekindled. Many indigenous communities have already instituted their own systems of revitalizing their languages. The Ainu of Japan have set up a learning system where the elders teach the language to their youth. Schools of Living Tradition in different indigenous communities in the Philippines similarly keep their cultural forms, including languages, alive.
不过，随着土著知识体系日益得到国际社会的承认，人们再次燃起希望，盼望口头和书面土著语言能够繁荣兴盛，广为传播。许多土著社区建立了旨在振兴本族语言的相关系统，日本的阿伊努人设立了学习系统，让老年人向青年人传授语言知识 ; 菲律宾多个土著社区的 “鲜活传统学校” 不约而同地保持了各自的文化形式，其中就包括语言。
This edition of the Courier is a welcome contribution to the worldwide effort to focus more on indigenous languages. It is a valuable companion to the UNESCO-Cambridge University Press book, Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation, published in 2018. The book illustrates the importance of indigenous knowledge in addressing contemporary global challenges.
本期《信使》为推动世界各地更多地关注土著语言，作出了有益的尝试。在阅读本期《信使》的同时，不妨参阅联合国教科文组织与剑桥大学出版社在 2018 年联合出版的《土著知识促进气候变化评估与适应》，书中阐述了土著知识对于人们应对当代全球挑战的重要意义。
往期精彩