Our Mother Tongue is a River We Can Return to Again and Again
A Rarámuri woman with child in the Sierra Tarahumara. Photo: David Rapport
Back to the River of a Mother’s Language
Long before we emerge into the world, our mother has already nourished us. Certainly, she has kept us alive and growing through her bloodstream. But she has also bathed us in another river: her maternal thoughts and words, often spoken directly to the unborn child. Waiting to emerge shining from our mother’s womb, we are already primed to speak.
In each mother’s language is the encoded experience of her ancestors’ long history of walking the Earth.
A mother’s nurturing continues, hopefully, long after birth. One of the many ways in which she does this is to transmit her language. Just as the Earth “speaks” to all living beings through its soil, water and air, our own mother teaches us her biocultural “grammar.” For in each mother’s language is the encoded experience of her ancestors’ long history of walking the Earth.
Indeed, it is no accident that, in so many cultures, people speak of their first language as a “mother language” or “mother tongue.” Mother languages, also called first languages, are the deep loam from which sprout our earliest thoughts and perceptions of the world. The more we cultivate this rich soil, the more we connect with our cultural heritage, ancestral wisdom, and unique traditions.
What Is International Mother Language Day?
International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is a worldwide observance held each February 21 to promote awareness of linguistic diversity, a key aspect of biocultural diversity.
Did you know that it is to Bangladesh that we owe International Mother Language Day?
On February 21, 1952, in what was then the Pakistani province of East Bengal, the Bengalis fought for recognition of their language, Bangla. Bengali university students led massive protests against the imposition of Urdu as the national language of Bangladesh.
And though the Pakistani government brutally repressed this movement, the river had been undammed.
The River Gains Strength
On January 9, 1998, Rafiqul Islam and Abdus Salam, two Bengalis living in Canada, wrote a letter to Kofi Annan, then secretary-general of the UN. They asked him to save the world’s languages from extinction by declaring International Mother Language Day. Rafiqul Islam proposed February 21 to commemorate the 1952 killings during the Bengali mother language movement.
First, Rafiqul Islam introduced his proposal in the Bangladesh parliament. In due course, the Government of Bangladesh submitted a formal proposal to UNESCO.
Finally, on November 17, 1999, UNESCO proclaimed February 21 International Mother Language Day to commemorate the martyrs of 1952. Indeed, it was a rare incident where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue.
And, in time, their sacrifice bore fruit. Since 2002, IMLD has continued to evolve in scope and theme. For example, in 2019 the theme International Year of Indigenous Languages drew attention to the critical loss of Indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize, and promote them.
IMLD 2025 Theme: Silver Jubilee
UNESCO has estimated that “every two weeks, a language disappears, taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage.”
According to UNESCO, spoken or signed languages together number 8,324. Of these, around 7,000 are still in use, while only a few hundred are taught in education systems. Less than a hundred appear in the digital world.
This year, we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of International Mother Language Day, a quarter-century of efforts to preserve linguistic diversity. This milestone marks the importance of preserving language and its inextricable link with cultural heritage and the environment.
Indeed, it is through language that the wealth of traditional environmental knowledge, values, and practices around the world has been expressed and transmitted.
How to Observe International Mother Language Day?
The Bengali student movement that gave rise to this annual observance met with brutal repression. That is why IMLD is a national holiday in Bangladesh, to honor the martyrs of 1952 and celebrate the freedom to speak Bangla.
But there is also much to celebrate on February 21!
Abraham Ofori-Henaku, a young storyteller from Ghana and author of “My Mother Has No Tongue,” practises speaking in Akuapem Twi, his mother language, with friend and colleague Sandra Burah. Another colleague is correcting his pronunciation by phone. Photos: Kofi Talent
At UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and around the world, official events will mark the day. But why not flex your “linguistic muscle” right here, right now? A good place to start is with some fascinating stories told by people from three different continents and published by Terralingua.
Each of these storytellers explores their visceral bond to their mother language. Though written in English, each story reveals the richness of humanity’s collective linguistic and biocultural heritage. Each conveys urgently what is stake. And each presents impassioned and convincing arguments for maintaining and nurturing this heritage.
- My Mother Has No Tongue
- Speaking Our Identity
- Everything Happens for a Reason
- Mother Tongues: Two Writers Explore the Words and Cultures That Shape Their Connection to Place
Mother Languages Are Vital and Worth Revitalizing
Next, we invite you to read a Terralingua blog post celebrating the success of an Indigenous language revitalization project on the West Coast of Canada.
As you read, ponder the challenges and hopes of people who choose to return to the river of their mother language. Downstream, there may have been years of drought, but the source of the river still runs strong. And this project proves that, wherever Indigenous languages are threatened, revitalization is not only a possibility but a necessity.
For a Deeper Read
How, exactly, does the inextricable link between (mother) languages, cultures, and environments work?
Terralingua offers a detailed explanation. Also, explore what you can do to counter the threats against linguistic diversity.
… Happy International Mother Language Day!
