Fall of Native

Languages of The

Americas - In

Historical

Perspective

F or   the   first   time,   it   is   calculated   that   the Natives     of     the     Americas     (Indians,     Red Indians,            indigenous            people            or Amerindiands)         spoke         atleast         1,410 languages      before      the      arrival      of      the Europeans.   In   1696,   King   Charles   II   of   Spain put   a   ban   on   the   use   of   all   Native   languages within    his    empire    and    the    Natives    were forced     to     learn     Spanish.     In     1770,     King Charles   III   of   Spain   completely   banned   the use     of     Native     languages;     no     one     was allowed    to    speak    even    his    own    language except the Spanish. The   Great   Tragedy   began   in   the   form   of   a Papal   Bull   Inter   Caster   issued   by   the   Pope Alexander   VI   (1431   -   1503)   on   May   4,   1493 through    which    most    of    the    Americas    was allotted,   donated   or   gifted   to   the   monarchs of   Spain   (King   Ferdinant   II   and   the   Queen Isabela).      The      following      was      its      basic condition: "all   the   barbarous   nations   of   the   Americas be    overthrown    and    converted    to    Catholic Christianity        (Catholicism        or        Roman Catholicism)."     For     the     conquest     of     the Americas,   the   job   was   initially   handed   over to   Christopher   Columbus   to   be   followed   by many    other    conquistadors.    Through    their efforts,    the    monarchs    of    Spain    eventually established   the   largest   empire   in   the   world. After    the    fall    of    Rome,    it    was    the    first European       empire       which       extended       it territories   outside   the   continent   and   lasted for   over   four   hundred   years,   from   1492   to 1898.    In    the    Americas,    Spain    occupied    24 present-day        countries        where        worst genocide   campaigns   were   carried   out,   non- stop   for   over   three   centuries   in   which   over 100 million Native lost their lives. Later,    the    population    gap    was    filled    in    by importing      tens      of      millions      of      blacks, kidnapped   from   Africa   as   slaves;   although they    were    not    slaves    but    free    citizens    of Africa,   except   in   few   cases.   Again   the   wives, sisters   and   daughters   of   the   African   blacks were   raped   for   over   two   hundred   years   by the      so-called      White      Catholic      invaders, settlers       and       the       migrants,       thereby producing      many      new      races      over      the Americas,      known      as      Mestizo,      Mulatto, Castizo,   Morisco,   Albino,   Blanca,   Quadroon, Octoroon,     Terceron,     Grifo,     Zambo,     Zambo Prieto, Caboclo and others. Fall   of   migrants   languages   in   the   Americas In     the     Americas,     all     languages     of     the European    migrants    and    other    settlers    are severely        endangered.        They        had        to relinquish     their     own     mother-tongues     in favor   of   Spanish,   French,   Dutch   and   English –     languages     of     the     conquorers     of     the Americas.   The   descendants   of   the   European migrants    and    settlers    have    already    lost their   own   identities   and   nationalities;   now they     are     passing     through     a     process     of surrendering      and      forgetting      their      own languages. Birth   of   46   languages   in   the   Americas   The black    Africans    brought    as    slaves    in    the Americas    were    forced    to    adopt    forthwith languages      of      their      masters:      Spanish, French,    English    and    others;    most    of    the enslaved         Africans         spoke         different languages      and      they      were      unable      to communicate      even      with      each      other. However,   they   started   learning   language   of their     masters     along     with     the     essential words    of    various    Africans    languages.    This resulted   in   the   emergence   of   various   other forms   of   dialects   or   Creole   languages   in   the Americas,    a    common    practice    throughout the   ages   to   be   found   among   all   the   defeated nations,     beginning     with     the     Sumerian, Akkadian,   Sanskrit,   Aramaic,   Hebrew,   Celtic, down     to     Persian,     Arabic,     Latin,     English, Spanish,     French     and     right     up     to     the modern-day     Urdu     and     Hindi.     All     these languages   were   Creole   in   their   initial   stages, nourished    in    the    womb    of    the    languages, both   of   the   conquerors   and   the   conquered. In      due      course,      they      developed      into independent    languages.    In    the    world    of conquerors     it     has     remained     a     general practice   to   impose   languages,   cultures   and religions   over   the   defeated   nations.   While   in retaliation,      the      defeated      nations      have created   new   languages   as   has   happened   in the     Americas     where     at     least     46     new languages   have   emerged   for   getting   rid   of the languages of the invaders.