Thousands of languages all over the world face an uncertain future and may soon fade away if immediate action isn’t taken. One of these endangered languages is Romeyka, a variety of Greek that has roots in the ancient Hellenistic age.
While its speakers are dwindling in numbers, especially in the Trabzon region of Turkey, Romeyka may be spared thanks to continuing research, and a recently launched crowdsourcing platform that can help document and preserve the language.
Preserving Romeyka
The push to keep Romeyka alive is led by Ioanna Sitaridou, a Fellow of Queens' College and a professor of Spanish and Historical Linguistics at the University of Cambridge and is the latest contribution to UN’s International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032). This calls for the recognition of indigenous languages and promotes initiatives that work to secure their survival.
