Topic: Preservation of Endangered Languages
Country: Iran
Delegate Name: Matthew Criado-Cano
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Iran position papers GLIMUN 2013 committees
Benchmarks throughout recorded history have largely been few and far between but the 1800s acted as a catalyst for societal advancement. The proliferation and advancements of society in recent history have amounted to much success regarding society as a whole. While this general progress has benefited many, it has also resulted in tragic losses. The loss of which is regarded is the unfortunate degradation of languages, many of which haven fallen to a point of severe deterioration to the point of near extinction.
Over three thousand languages have been deemed endangered in the year 2013 and currently, this is a positive feedback loop. This feedback is tragic since the loss of language is continuing steadily, without the slightest delay. Unfortunately, many endangered languages exist within Iran’s borders. While the native tongue of Iran, Persian, accounts for about fifty percent of languages spoken, there exist many whose number of speakers fall below one thousand fluent people. Such languages include Koroshi, Mandaic and Senaya, to name several.
The loss of language is tragic and should precautions not be taken to aid in the preservation of languages on the threshold of existence, then these languages will be lost as many have before them. The Islamic Republic of Iran is home to quite a disparity of languages and the loss of one particular language due to want of communication with others is truly tragic. Resolutions need to be made in order to prevent this tragic loss.
