LONDON,
(CAIS) -- National Commission of UNESCO has welcomed
a proposal that Iranian Language Association be entrusted
the task of preparing for the registration of endangered
Iranian languages as global cultural heritage by the world
body, reported CHN.
The world cultural body views endangered languages and
dialects in different parts of Iran from two perspectives:
Firstly, some Iranian
languages with a background of several centuries
should be registered as cultural heritage with UNESCO.
Secondly, in order to register the languages as global
cultural heritage, a national committee should be
established to study the case.
"On the other hand, some dialects and languages
spoken in different regions of the country are on the
verge of extinction for a variety of reasons and
specialized national entities should extend support to
preserve them". The head of National UNESCO
Commission, Farhad Etemadi said that supporting endangered
languages is distinct from registering them.
"As a preliminary step, one of the national bodies
should undertake the initiative of supporting endangered
languages and dialects by making statistical assessment
about them to draw the attention of relevant national
organs and UNESCO. Expertise of linguists working in
cooperation with UNESCO would play a key and useful role
in this respect" Etemadi said.
The official added that irrespective of being a private or
state body, UNESCO would study the report by the national
entity and dispatch international experts to review
applications by member states to register endangered
languages or dialects.
He said that the UNESCO National Commission will forward
the report by the specialized body on endangered languages
and dialects to its Paris-based headquarters which, in
turn, would dispatch experts to Tehran to study the
request.
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