Diversidade linguística no Brasil: a situação das línguas ameríndias

Abstract

This article aims to present an overview on the linguistic diversity in Brazil and SouthAmerica. According to recent research, 90% of the world languages may disappear before the end of this century. Due to this situation, there is a consensus that linguists involved in field work activities with indigenous people should make an extra effort in order to avoid the disappearance of these languages. Legère (2015) considers that there exist around 6500 languages spoken in the world. Additionally he observes that two thirds of this amount may be extinct in this century. As for South America, researchers estimate that there are around 500 languages being spoken in the continent. However, 420 of these languages are under serious risk of being extinct owing either to the pressure of the majority languages or to the low number of speakers. As for Brazil, it is known that there are around 180 native languages being currently spoken. However, recent studies point out that many of these languages may disappear within fifteen years because they are spoken by a reduced number of speakers. This means that around 45 to 60 languages can be extinct before 2030. This signals to the importance that Brazilian universities focus their attention on concrete actions in order to promote the documentation, the preservation and the revitalization of these languages.