What is indigenous language?

  • (noun): A language that originated in a specified place and was not brought to that place from elsewhere.

Indigenous Language

An indigenous language or autochthonous language is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples but has been reduced to the status of a minority language. This language would be from a linguistically distinct community that has been settled in the area for many generations. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages, and the reverse is also true. Many indigenous languages have become endangered because of language deaths or linguicide caused by colonization, in which the original language is replaced by that of the colonists.

Read more about Indigenous Language.

Some articles on indigenous language:

Domestic Policy Of Evo Morales - Education Reform - Indigenous Languages in Schools
... Morales supports a movement to teach indigenous languages such as Aymara, Quechua, and Guaraní which are spoken mainly in the rural areas of Bolivia ... only 37% of the population speaks a native language that predates the introduction of Spanish in the 16th century ... is seen as "emblematic of his government's indigenous-based social agenda" ...
Indigenous Language - Learning
... Hundreds of indigenous languages around the world are taught by traditional means, including vocabulary, grammar, readings and recordings ... texts, where translations are available in more widely known languages ...
Mehico - Demographics
... Mexico is ethnically diverse, the various indigenous peoples and European immigrants are united under a single national identity ... of a synthesis of European culture with Indigenous cultures in a process known as mestizaje, alluding to the mixed biological origins of the majority of Mexicans ... The category of "indígena" (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only speakers of one of Mexico's 62 indigenous languages or ...
Jalisco - Demographics
... the state has a population of 42,372 people who spoke an indigenous language ... Eight out of every 1000 people speak an indigenous language, above the national average of six per 1000 ... As of 2010, the most common indigenous language is Huichol with 18,409 speakers, followed by Nahuatl at 11,650, then P’urhépecha at 3,960 and ...
Chiapas - Demographics - Indigenous Population - Numbers and Influence
... the history of Chiapas, there have been three main indigenous groups the Mixes-Zoques, the Mayas and the Chiapa ... As of the 2005 Census, there were 957,255 people who spoke an indigenous language out of a total population of about 3.5 million ... Chiapas' 111 municipios, ninety-nine have significant indigenous populations ...

Famous quotes containing the words language and/or indigenous:

    Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself. He who has a contempt for poetry, cannot have much respect for himself, or for anything else.
    William Hazlitt (1778–1830)

    All climates agree with brave Chanticleer. He is more indigenous even than the natives. His health is ever good, his lungs are sound, his spirits never flag.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)