Part 2

The elimination and subordination of native languages ​​in America

In the case of America there was a phenomenon similar to that of Australia but on a much larger scale.

It is considered at the time of the European invasion more than a thousand different languages ​​were spoken.

After the invasion and occupation of the territories by the European powers that culminated in the death of more than half of the indigenous population (over 100 million, more than 50 million succumbed) the situation of the native languages ​​became very vulnerable. Often the native languages ​​were banned, the speakers were persecuted and their reproduction was considerably limited,

A part of the native languages ​​disappeared without a trace due to the rapid physical elimination of the speaking population. Others only left their testimonies in the local toponymy.

Some 500 (current and extinct) have been identified and studied in greater or lesser detail. Some or part of the lexicon and grammar are known about them.

More than half of these recognized indigenous languages ​​(about 250) have become extinct (there is no living person left to speak them).

Of the remaining 250, more than 150 are in danger of immediate extinction (there are fewer than 500 speakers).

There are currently approximately one hundred indigenous languages ​​with a population large enough to allow their immediate survival.

However, some 70 of them are only used by small minorities of less than 5,000 speakers, generally without state support and with enormous pressures from the dominant (European) languages ​​(English, Spanish, Portuguese and French).

None of the 30 most important native languages ​​of America is predominant in their own country. In some states, the main indigenous languages ​​have been declared official at national or local level. They are the cases of Paraguay where Guarani, which has been declared a national language, is used in tandem with Spanish, and Bolivia that recently declared itself as a plurinational state and raised Quechua, Aymara and El to the category of official languages Guarani ..

In any case, the perspectives of the Native American languages, even in those countries where the speakers are numerous, are not good due to their restricted social prestige and low state and educational consideration.

Table 3 lists the most used languages ​​in the various countries of the American continent, as well as the native languages ​​spoken, or the languages, now extinguished, which were spoken in the past, and the approximate date on which they were extinguished.

According to this enumeration, in America there are 37 countries, of which 35 are independent (except Puerto Rico and Guyane). Of all of them only four have native languages ​​officially considered national languages ​​(Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador).

In Paraguay, Guaraní is considered a national language and is spoken by more than 90% of the population sharing this situation with Spanish, in Bolivia, where Quechua, Aymara and Guaraní have been declared official languages ​​(spoken by 60% of the population of the country), in Peru where Quechua, Aymara and other local languages ​​are recognized as official in their respective jurisdictions (which together reach 25% of the total) and in Ecuador where Quechua and other indigenous languages ​​are recognized (spoken by 10% of the Ecuadorian population).

Other countries have developed their own Creole language used by most of the population (more than 90% speak Creole in Haiti and sranang tongo in Suriname).

Other countries where a significant portion of the population speaks native languages ​​are Guatemala (20%) and Mexico (5%).

These languages are spoken but normally they are neither taught nor used in government affairs.

Mostly they do not have social prestige and those speaking them are considered second class citizens. In other words, even when they have been declared official languages, in some countries, to speak them might be a demeaning credit. This is particularly true where there are still a large number of speakers, i.e. a few hundred thousand. Such is the case of quechua and aymara speakers in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, and mapudungun speakers in Chile. Recently a indigenous-friendly government was deposed in Bolivia and this situation of linguistic discrimination has become still more acutely felt.