Seke Language

• 09 Jan 2020

• Seke means "golden language" which originated in the Mustang district of Nepal.
• It is an unwritten language.
• It is spoken in just five villages of Chuksang, Chaile, Gyakar, Tangbe, and Tetang, a region close to the border with Tibet.
• There are just 700 or so Seke speakers left in the world.
• The three reported dialects of Seke are Tangbe, Tetang, and Chuksang.
• It is one of the endangered languages in the world.
  
  • According to the criteria adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a language becomes extinct when nobody speaks or remembers the language. The UNESCO has categorized languages on basis of endangerment as follows:-
    
    • Vulnerable
    • Definitely Endangered
    • Severely Endangered
    • Critically Endangered
  • UNESCO has recognised 42 Indian languages as Critically Endangered.

Degree of Endangerment	Intergenerational Language Transmission
Safe	Language is spoken by all generations; intergenerational transmission is uninterrupted.
Vulnerable	Most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains.
Definitely endangered	Children no longer learn the language as mother tongue in the home.
Severely endangered	Language is spoken by grandparents and older generations; while the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves.
Critically endangered	The youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently.
Extinct	There are no speakers left.