What is Mother Tongue?
Merriam Webster defines Mother Tongue as one’s native language. Also, the Cambridge dictionary defines as the first language a person learns to speak. Contemporary linguist and educators use L1 for Mother Tongue and L2 for the second language.
What is Identity?
Cambridge defines Identity as the fact of being who a person is or the qualities of a person or group that makes them different from others.
Nelson Mandela says, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes in his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. also clearly stated that “language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.”
The definition itself tells us how important and unique our mother tongue is. It is not only the first language but a speaker’s ability to master its linguistic and communicative aspects. Languages, with their complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development are of strategic importance for people and the planet. Yet, due to globalisation processes, they are increasingly under threat, or disappearing altogether. When languages fade, so does the world’s rich tapestry of cultural diversity. Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression – valuable resources for ensuring a better future are also lost. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible or intangible heritage. Our Mother Tongue serves not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world.
Andre Martinet the French linguist once said that Mother Tongue is “the language through which one comes to know the world.” And so Mother Tongue is the language of emotions. It has an important impact on our identity. It is the language to which our emotional attachment is the strongest, ensuring all the cultural riches whose destruction results in the destruction of innovativeness and creativity. A person having a chance of maintaining their first language can extend their cognitive development while learning other languages as a second language. Mother Tongue opens the door for a person to transfer skills from one language to another.
Mother Tongue is the key to our culture. We communicate with our parents, family, relatives and our people through our Mother Tongue. It is also key to our culture, identity and our belief system. There is a strong bond between the Mother Tongue and the culture, and children who don’t know their own mother tongue have a hard time finding a connection to their culture and their roots. Mother Tongue defines our identity. It brings us together in oneness. It also defines the unique feature one has. It reminds us of the beautiful diversity from language to language. Yet there are many threats to our Mother Tongue today- English being the dominant language in the internet, schools and everywhere. Mixed marriages, jobs and migration are some of the common threats.
Lastly, I say Mother Tongue is My Identity because:
It defines the unique feature of one’s group.
It demonstrates the beautiful differences we have from language to language.
It shares our emotions to the way it should be understood.
It gives us a sense of belongingness and oneness.
It opens the door for new ideas, expression and value system.
It holds our pride and dignity to where we belong.
It tells us about our beginning and origin.
It serves as a backbone to unlock the key for acquiring higher understanding and knowledge.
Therefore, we should all embrace our Mother Tongue and preserve it at any cost. As it is our identity to which I am and you are defined. According to Shardul Dave, “If you are unable to speak your mother tongue fluently. Then, your English accent is meaningless. Respect our mother tongue because without that we could never have learned other languages.” “A teacher uses mother tongue when teaching other languages to make us understand better. That is the power of mother tongue”, says M.r. Mahali.
Somirin Sareo
Chaplain C-Edge College, Dimapur
*This is an excerpt from her speech delivered during the International Mother
Language Day held on 21st February 2020 at GoyiepreKenye Auditorium, C-Edge
College.
