Out of the 68 languages that are spoken in Mexico, some of them are in danger of extinction, most of them due to the fact that they do not have a written form that allows their insertion in written or online media, says Luz María Rangel Anlanís, academician at the Ibero-American University of Mexico.
As the University explains in its web, the General Law on the Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Cultures recognises the official status of indigenous languages since 2003. Article 4 of the law gives the same value to Spanish, but there is a lack of texts written in indigenous languages for the 6.6 millions of Mexicans who speak these languages.
The lack of recognition of written characters make inconceivable the use of indigenous languages in the media, both written and digital, what make their computer processing impossible.
Rangel, who also coordinates the University Superior Technical program in Graphic production at the University, proposes the creation of a research network of which would propitiate the writing, translation, listening and phonation of the indigenous languages through the promotion of the use of their writing, the publication of texts in the field of publishing, the creation of multimedia material and the creation of software.
Furthermore, the academician suggests the design of special keyboards for each language and its installation as a software; the creation of a digital dictionary per language, which may allow asking, translating and listening the pronunciation by means of speech synthesis; the development of a grammar app which explains how to write and use the words in phrases or sentences; apart from the translation of software for each language.
English
