Safeguarding Iraq’s heritage: About 500 dialects in danger

2025-06-08T14:40:05+00:00

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Shafaq News/ On Sunday, Iraq’s Strategic
Center for Human Rights urged the government to launch immediate measures to
safeguard the country’s linguistic diversity, as nearly 500 dialects face
erosion due to globalization.

In a report, the center described these
dialects as a core component of Iraq’s cultural identity and oral heritage,
shaped by centuries of ethnic, religious, and regional plurality.

“Preserving dialects protects collective
memory and reinforces national belonging,” the report stated, calling
linguistic diversity a national asset that demands institutional protection.

Linguists estimate Iraq’s dialectal spectrum
spans Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen, Assyrian, Mandaic, and Yazidi variations, many
of which are passed down orally and remain undocumented.

The center also stressed that dialect loss is
not merely a linguistic issue, but a threat to cultural continuity, especially
in marginalized or rural communities.

The warning aligns with a global trend
highlighted by UNESCO, which estimates that over 40% of the world’s 7,000
languages are endangered. Iraq’s rich linguistic landscape, shaped by
successive civilizations, places it among the countries most exposed to this
global phenomenon.

“When a dialect disappears, a worldview
disappears with it,” said Ali Haddad, director of the Iraqi Folklore Archive.
“These are not just words—they are repositories of history, customs, and
identity.”

The center called on the Ministry of Education
and cultural institutions to integrate dialect documentation into national
curricula and academic programs, urging funding for research centers to study
endangered dialects and support media and artistic content that showcases
spoken vernaculars.

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