Udhay Shankar N wrote: [ on 03:16 PM 1/23/2008 ]
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=IN
<q>
The number of languages listed for India is 428. Of those, 415 are
living languages and 13 are extinct.
</q>
Interesting follow-up (though I'd feel more comfortable with a more
recent reference. :-):
http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/20/stories/2008022060490300.htm
<q>
In India, there are 1,576 mother tongue languages with separate
grammatical structures and syntax and 1,796 languages classified as
"other mother tongues," according to the 1901 census. "Most of these
languages are still very much there. We are not a civilisation which
is about to start a linguistic genocide," says Udai Narayan Singh,
Director of Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore.
</q>
And while on this topic:
http://www.forbes.com/home/technology/2008/02/21/future-english-chinese-tech-cx_no_language_sp08_0221lingua.html
<q>
But English is not thereby immune to the principles of language
survival. Above all, it is notable that beyond the 330 million or so
native speakers, perhaps twice as many more use it as a second
language. And this community of over 600 million second-language
speakers, who make English pre-eminent as a world language, also make
it vulnerable in the long term.
</q>
--
((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
