Language as genes of culture and biodiversity conservation: The case of “Zaysite” language in southern region of Ethiopia

Abstract

Background and aim: Ethiopia is a country of a remarkable¡¦ mosaic¡¦ people each with its own distinct languages, and cultural norms without which progress and development are impossible and development that does not pay attention to culture and environment cannot produce fruits. Zeyse ethnic group is one of the minority ethnic groups whose language and its role to conserve biodiversity is not studied well. The aim of
this study was to assess the status of Zeyse ethnic group language and its role in biodiversity conservation.

Subjects: During the study, the status of the language and its role to conserve biodiversity were assessed by, taking a sample of 230 individuals from the population that includes age groups ranged from 10 to 105 years, who were native ¡§Zaysite¡¨ speakers...

Results and conclusion: The result indicated positive attitude of the
respondents towards their language, the link between linguistically encoded indigenous environmental knowledge and biodiversity  conservation, existence of some obsolete words of Zaysite language, and progressive decrease of the mean (ƒ{X ) numbers of correctly interpreted vocabularies from elders (ƒ{X =63.85) to teenagers (ƒ{X =37.23). These findings prove noticeable gradual decline in the use of Zaysite language. Losses of vocabularies, as social genes of culture and some words becoming obsolete have not only negative impacts on the proficiency and communicative functions of the language, but also on the biodiversity conservation because life in a particular human environment is dependent on people¡¦s ability to express the environment using words (cultural genes) of the language. Therefore, language has a direct positive effect on the biodiversity conservation and hence, Zaysite and other languages need protection, preservation and documentation in order to conserve biodiversity.

Key words: biodiversity, elders, endangerment, language preservation, teenagers, Zaysite, cultural genes