Language: A Resource for Nature 141they are mostly expounded by speakers of languages that are comfortably not at
risk of going extinct. Second, and very importantly, the learning of other languages
does not have to occur at the cost of losing one’s own language (in technical terms,
it does not have to be subtractive); it can be additive, leading to a situation of stable
multilingualism in one’s mother tongue and one or more other languages. Again,
it is rare for indigenous or minority groups to abandon their languages in favour
of a majority one without direct or indirect pressures from governments and other
outside forces. Faced with the challenges of modernity, indigenous and minority
language speakers may or may not wish to preserve their own languages and cul-
tural traditions, but should not have to find themselves systematically pressured
into the latter choice. Indeed, one may seriously question whether choice under
such pressure can be called choice at all.
Furthermore, marginalized ethnic groups who opt for or are forced into assim-
ilation into a linguistic and cultural majority often do not succeed in overcoming
their marginalization but end up among the dispossessed within ‘mainstream’ soci-
ety. As for the issue of ethnic conflict and national security, specialized studies
show that ethnic differences (whether identified with language, culture, religion,
or any aspects of social organization) do not normally constitute the source of
conflict, although they may be seized upon and attributed special meaning as a
basis for mobilization when conflict arises. In particular, there is no evidence to
suggest that the use of different languages by neighbouring populations may con-
stitute per se a cause of conflict; nor, for that matter, does monolingualism within
or between countries seem to be a guarantee for peace. When populations of speak-
ers of different languages coexisting in adjacent or the same territory do come into
conflict, the causes of such conflict reside more commonly in socioeconomic and
political inequality and competition over land and resources, as well as in the denial
(rather than the granting) of linguistic and cultural rights.^6
The idea of Babel as a ‘curse’ is a widespread interpretation of this element of
the Judaeo-Christian religious tradition, yet not necessarily a valid one. It is per-
haps more accurate to see the divine intervention that brings about a multiplicity
of languages as a way of curbing the arrogance and single-mindedness of monolin-
gual empire builders. Other religious traditions suggest that a diversity of lan-
guages (and cultures) is a good thing. To cite just one example, according to the
Acoma Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, the mother goddess latiku causes people to
speak different languages so that it will not be as easy for them to quarrel.
Multilingualism and linguistic ecologies
Above all, these arguments completely ignore that – for most of human history,
and even today in many parts of the world – high concentrations of different lan-
guages have coexisted side by side in the same areas. Over 800 different languages
are still spoken in the island of New Guinea – the main hotspot of linguistic diver-
sity. There and elsewhere, complex networks of multilingualism in several local
languages and pidgins or lingua francas have been a commonplace way of dealing