Censo de Canadá 2021: Idiomas

 

La semana pasada, Statistics Canada publicó los resultados del último censo en lo relativo a los idiomas. Los datos obtenidos revelan muchas cosas interesantes acerca del multilingüismo en nuestro país. 

Los resultados publicados muestran que tenemos un país más diverso en términos de idiomas. Casi una cuarta parte de la población total afirma tener una lengua materna diferente al inglés y al francés. Casi la mitad de ellos viven en Ontario.

Tenemos ahora más de 1 millón de hablantes nativos más de inglés que durante el censo pasado. Pero en términos porcentuales, el aumento fue muy leve, del 58,1% al 58,4%. El número de personas, que utilizan el inglés como primera lengua oficial hablada, aumentó al 75,5 %. Sin embargo, hubo malas noticias para el idioma francés, ya que los números mostraron una disminución en su uso. El porcentaje de hablantes nativos disminuyó de 21.4% a 20.9%. El 21,4% de los residentes en Canadá utilizan el francés como primera lengua oficial hablada. A pesar de que hay más hablantes de francés en Canadá, su población no creció tan rápido como otros grupos. Proporcionalmente, incluso en Quebec el idioma francés está experimentando una disminución en su uso.

Puedes comparar los resultados de ambos censos, el de 2021 aquí  y el de 2016 aquí.. Según este censo, el número de personas bilingües que hablan ambos idiomas oficiales, se mantiene estable. Pero la verdad es, que hubo un aumento en el número de personas bilingües en Quebec, y al mismo tiempo, hubo una disminución en el resto del país. .

Las lenguas indígenas no fueron favorecidas esta vez. Los números reportan 188,900 hablantes nativos de lenguas indígenas, frente a 213,230 del censo de 2016. Provincias como Columbia Británica, Ontario, Manitoba y Saskatchewan experimentaron una disminución de más del 10% en su población de hablantes nativos de lenguas indígenas.

El punjabi es ahora el tercer idioma de Canadá en cuanto a su número de parlantes nativos, seguido por el mandarín y luego el árabe. Estos son los 3 idiomas de inmigrantes más hablados en Canadá. Les siguen el cantonés, el español y el tagalo. Ahora en Canadá somos más de 100 mil hablantes nativos de español más que en 2016. El porcentaje de hispanoparlantes en Canadá aumentó del 1,4% al 1,6%.

Terranova y Labrador fue la única provincia donde en el censo anterior una lengua indígena ocupó el 3^er lugar como lengua más hablada: el Innu (Montagnais). Hoy en día, ya no lo es y ese lugar lo ocupa ahora el árabe. Hubo un aumento en el número de parlantes nativos de ambos idiomas, a pesar de que la población en esta provincia disminuyó.

Más del 41% de los residentes de Canadá son bilingües, lo que significa que pueden hablar con fluidez en 2 idiomas, y el 7% puede hacerlo en 3 idiomas o más. En Montreal, casi el 20% de su población se declara trilingüe.

En mi opinión, es una buena noticia ver una sociedad más diversa en Canadá. Nuevas oportunidades de negocios se pueden abrir en este país, en áreas en las cuales los inversionistas puedan estar interesados en reclutar talento bilingüe. Ciudades como Toronto y Montreal son lugares ideales para invertir en servicios profesionales multilingües. 

Hubo un aumento en el número de hablantes de idiomas asiáticos. Esto es bueno, ya que el comercio a través del océano Pacífico está creciendo y esto puede conducir a nuevas oportunidades para que Canadá aumente su participación en este mercado. Pero teniendo en cuenta que todavía el 75% de nuestro comercio exterior es con los EE.UU., es difícil decir si este hecho tendrá un impacto relevante en nuestro comercio internacional. Yo propondría buscar cómo atraer más talento que hable español. El comercio con México está creciendo, y ya es nuestro quinto socio comercial más importante. Por otro lado, en los Estados Unidos, el uso del español también está creciendo. No sería de extrañar, que un mayor uso del español sea una condición para continuar nuestro comercio bilateral al mismo nivel, o para aumentarlo. 

En lo que respecta a las lenguas indígenas, los resultados de este censo atraerán más atención. Los números muestran una disminución en la población parlante nativa. Pero hay una nota que explica que la recolección de datos entre las comunidades indígenas en tiempos de COVID ha sido un desafío. ¿Estamos haciendo lo suficiente para preservar estas lenguas? Este debate continuará.

Canada 2021 Census: Languages

 

Last week, Statistics Canada released the results of the last census on languages. The data obtained reveals many interesting things about the Multilingual picture of our Country. 

The results released show that we have a more diverse country in terms of languages. Almost a fourth of the total population report having a first language other than English and French and almost half of them live in Ontario.

We have now more than 1 million more native speakers of English than during last census. But in terms of percentage, the increase was very slight, from 58.1% to 58.4%. The number of People who use English as first official language spoken increased to 75.5 %. However, there were bad news for French language as numbers showed a decline in its use. The percentage of Native speakers decreased from 21.4% to 20.9%. 21.4% of Canadian residents use French as first official language spoken. Even though there are more speakers of French in Canada, their numbers did not grow as fast as other groups. Proportionally, even in Quebec the French language is experiencing a decline in use.

You can compare both Census, 2021 here and 2016 here. As per numbers of bilingual people who speak both official languages, they keep steady. But the truth is that there was an increase in number of Bilinguals in Quebec, and at the same time, there was a decline in the rest of the country. 

Indigenous languages were not favoured this time. Numbers report 188,900 native speakers of indigenous languages, vs 213,230 from 2016 census. Provinces like British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan experienced a decrease in more than 10% in their respective populations.

Punjabi is now Canada’s third language in terms of number of native speakers, followed by Mandarin and then Arabic. These are the 3 most spoken immigrant languages in Canada. They are followed by Cantonese, Spanish and Tagalog. We are now more than 100 thousand more native speakers of Spanish than in 2016 living in Canada. The percentage of Spanish speakers in Canada increased from 1.4% to 1.6%.

Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province where there was an indigenous language as the 3^rd most spoken language, as per 2016 Census: Innu (Montagnais). It is no longer the 3^rd language but Arabic is. There was an increase in the number of native speakers of both languages, even though the population in this province decreased.

More than 41% of the residents are bilingual, meaning, they can speak fluently in 2 languages, and 7% can do so in 3 languages or more. In Montreal, almost 20% of its population declares themselves to be trilingual 

In my opinion, It is good news to see a more diverse society in Canada. New Business opportunities can be opened in this country in areas in which investors are interested in recruiting bilingual talent. Cities like Toronto and Montreal are interesting places from where you can offer multilingual professional services. For language industry, these are good news too.

There was an increase in the number of speakers of Asian languages. This is a good thing as overall trade across the Pacific Ocean is expected to grow and may lead to new opportunities for Canada to increase its share in this market. But considering that still 75% of our external commerce is with the USA, is difficult to say if this fact will have a relevant impact in our International trade. I would propose to seek how to attract more talent who speak Spanish. Trade with Mexico is growing (It is already our 5^th more important business partner) and in the USA, the use of Spanish is growing as well. It would not be surprising that as a condition to continue our bilateral trade at the same level, or to increase it, a greater use of Spanish may be required. 

In regards to Indigenous languages, the results of this census will attract more attention. Numbers show a decline in native speakers. But there is a note explaining that collecting data from indigenous communities in times of COVID has been challenging and some numbers might be incomplete.  Are we doing enough to preserve those languages? This debate will continue.

Sacred Books and Languages

 

Here I present my list of Sacred texts ordered by religion and the language they were written in. This list can be improved. You can contact the author if you find an error or you want to add some more information. Bear in mind that the purpose of this list is not at all religious but Academic. This list was not made to explain the purpose or message of each text but their relations with their original language(s) and how sacred are considered those languages.

Not all books are accepted by all the followers of a religion, but are sacred to just a group of them. With Christianity, for example, the Bible is perhaps the only book accepted as sacred by all the Christians, but the rest of the texts are accepted by specific christian churches.

The column “Original”, refers to whether we can find this text in its original language or not (I do not talk about the original Text, which in most cases have been lost). Texts marked with O mean that we can find a copy of the texts in its Original language, T means that we only rely on translations and any original and copy was lost, and ? Means that we don’t know.

The column “Sacred” refers to whether the text in original language is considered more sacred that translations. Those marked with S mean that the language of the original text is considered as sacred and believers will appreciate more the use of an original text than a translation, while those marked in N mean that the language is not that important, you can read or even recite the text in your language of preference.

Sacred Books : Christianity

Book	Name	Languages	Original	Sacred	Comments
The Bible	Τὰ Βιβλία (The Books)	Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek	O	S	Some translations of the Bible are considered as Sacred and some believers prefer to recite it in this Version without translating it. Example, With the Bible in Latin or in Church Slavonic.
Book of Enoch		Hebrew, Aramaic	T	S	Oldest version known is in Ge’ez
Apocrypha Gospels		Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek	?	N	Some of them are lost
Book of Mormon		English	T	N	There are unconfirmed claims that it was written in an ancient language.
Doctrine and Covenants		English	O	N	Church of JC of Later-Day Saints
The Great Controversy		English	O	N	Seventh day Adventists Church
The Holy Piby		English	?	N	Rastafarian book. There are claims that it was translated from Amharic
Arcana Cœlestia		Neo-Latin	T	N	Swedenborgian Church
Kebra Nagast	The Glory of the Kings	Ge’ez	O	N	Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Summa Theologica	Summary of Theology	Latin	O	N	Catholic Church. Works of Thomas Aquinas
Book of the Bee	Ktabad d-debborita	Syriac	O	N
Book of the Cave of Treasures	Me’arath Gazze	Syriac	O	N
Roman Missal		Latin	O	S
Book of Hours		Latin	O	S	Abbreviated form of the Breviary
Horologion	Ώρολόγιον Часоловъ	Greek, Church Slavonic	O	S	Equivalent to the Breviary. Available in other languages used in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Euchologion	Εὐχολόγιον Требникъ	Greek, Church Slavonic	O	S	Liturgical Book of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Available in other languages used in EOC.
Didakhe	Διδαχή (Teaching)	Greek	O	N	Ancient Christian teachings. Lost for centuries
Fourfold Gospel		English	O	N

Sacred Books : Judaism

Book	Name	Languages	Original	Sacred	Comments
Torah	תורה	Hebrew	O	S	Text included in the Bible
Samaritan Torah		Hebrew	O	S	Text included in the Bible. Minor Differences
Tanakh	תנ״ך	Hebrew, Aramaic	O	S	Hebrew Bible
Talmud	תלמוד	Hebrew, Aramaic	O	N	Oral Tradition
Sefer Ha’Bahir	ספר הבהיר	Hebrew	O	N	Kabbalistic
Zohar	ספר הזוהר	Aramaic	O	S
Qumran		Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek	T	N	Different Manuscripts
Siddur	סידור	Hebrew, Aramaic	O	S
Piyyut	פּיוט	Hebrew, Aramaic	O	S	Liturgical poems to be sung
Sefer Yetzirah	ספר יצירה	Hebrew	O	S
Haggadah	הגדה של פסח	Hebrew, Aramaic	O	S	Written guide for Passover Seder

Sacred Books : Islam and other traditions

Book	Name	Languages	Original	Sacred	Comments
	Islam
Qur’an	القرآن	Arabic	O	S
Hadith	حديث	Arabic	O	N
As-Seerah An-Nabawiyyah	السيرة النبوية	Arabic	O	N	Biographies of prophets
	Baha’i
Bayan		Persian	O	N	Babism
Kitab-I-Aqdas	كتاب اقدس	Arabic	O	N
Kitab-I-Iqan	كتاب ايقان	Arabic, Persian	O	N
Hidden Words	كلمات مكنونة	Arabic, Persian	O	N	Collection of short aphorism
The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys		Persian	O	N
The Summons of the Lord of Hosts		Arabic, Persian	O	N	Collection of five tablets written to the rulers of the world
	Druze
Rasa’il Al-Hikma	رسائل الحكمة	Arabic	?	S	Secret text. Virtually unknown outside community
	Mandeanism
Ginza		Mandaic Aramaic	O	S
Qolusta		Mandaic Aramaic	O	S
Mandean Book of John		Mandaic Aramaic	O	S
	Gnosticism
Nag Hammadi		Coptic	?	N	Originals might be in Greek
Pistis Sophia	Πίστις Σοφία	Greek	T	N	Texts available in Coptic
Corpus Hermeticus		Greek	T	N	Some parts in original language are lost
Gnostic Gospels		Greek, Coptic	?	N

Sacred Books : Zoroastrianism

Book	Name	Languages	Original	Sacred	Comments
Zend Avesta		Avestan	O	S	Original composed by 21 parts called “Nasks”. Today survive only 5 Nasks and some fragments.
Gathas	Hymns	Old Avestan	O	S	Part of Yasna, one of Nasks that currently compose the Zend Avesta.
Denkard	Acts of Religion	Pahlevi (Middle Persian)	?	N	9th century religious encyclopedia. Some parts might be translations of lost parts of the ancient Avesta. Some parts are lost.
Bundahishn		Pazand (Middle Persian with different script)	?	N	Bundahishn and Greater Bundahishn. Some parts might be translations of lost parts of the ancient Avesta.
Dadestan-i Denig		Pahlevi	O	N	Q&A directed to an ancient High priest
Menog-i Khrad	Mind of Wisdom	Pazand	?	N	Some parts might be translations of lost parts of the ancient Avesta
Zand-e Vohuman Yasht		Pazand	O	N
Sad-Dar	Hundred Doors	Persian	O	N
Shayest Na-Shayest	Proper and Improper	Pahlevi	O	N
Zadspram		Pahlevi	O	N
Persian Rivayats		Persian	O	N	Series of Letters written with Avestan letters
Matigan-i Hazar Dadestan		Pahlevi	O	N	Law Book. Some parts are lost.
Shikand Gumanik Vijar		Pahlevi	O	N

Sacred Books : Buddhism

Book	Name	Languages	Original	Sacred	Comments
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta	Setting in Motion the wheel of the Dharma	Pali	O	S	First Sermon Given by Buddha
Tripitaka	The Three Baskets	Pali	O	S	There are other Canons that use other languages, like the Sanskrit Canon, Chinese Canon and Tibetan Canon.
Dhammapada		Pali	O	S	Collection of sayings of Buddha
Visuddhimaga	The Path of Purification	Pali	O	N
Sutra Mahayana		Sanskrit	T	N	Part of them survive in the Chinese and Tibetan canon
Lotus Sutra		Sanskrit	T	N	Probably written in Prakrit
Prajnaparamita	The perfection of Wisdom	Sanskrit	O	N
Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra		Sanskrit	O	N
Diamond Sutra		Sanskrit	O	N	Mahayana Sutra
Heart Sutra		Sanskrit	O	N	Mahayana Sutra
Longer Sukhavativyuha Sutra	Infinite Life Sutra	Sanskrit	T	N	Mahayana Sutra
Bardo Thödol		Tibetan	O	N	Tibetan Book of the Death.

Sacred Books : Hinduism

Book	Name	Languages	Original	Sacred	Comments
Vedas		Vedic Sanskrit	O	S	Oldest Religious texts written in Sanskrit, being Rigveda the oldest
Upanishad		Sanskrit	O	S	Shruti : Means: “which is heard” Most authoritative texts for this religion.
Brahmanas	Explanations	Sanskrit	O	S	Shruti
Samhita	Arrangement	Sanskrit	O	S	Manthrams, Prayers, hymns, litanies.
Aranyaka		Sanskrit	O	S	Shruti
Puranas		Sanskrit	O	N	Smriti : Means :"Which is remembered. Written down. Some texts were composed in Tamil
Post-Vedic Shastras		Sanskrit	O	N	Smriti. Post Vedic literature
Post-Vedic Sutras		Sanskrit	O	N	Smriti
Mahabharata		Sanskrit	O	N	Smriti. Epics of Ancient India
Bhagavad Gita		Sanskrit	O	N	Smriti
Ramayana		Sanskrit	O	N	Smriti
Agamas		Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu	O	N	Tantrism
Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra		Sanskrit	O	N	Late Vedic liturgical text.
Thevaram		Tamil	O	N	Shaiva Texts

Sacred Books : Other Traditions India

Book	Name	Languages	Original	Sacred	Comments
Tattvartha Sutra	On the Nature of reality	Sanskrit	O	S	Jainism
Agama	Tradition	Sanskrit and Maharashtri Prakrit	O	S	Jainism
Shri Guru Granth Sahib		Persian, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Multani, medieval Prakrit and other dialects. Written in Gurmukhi script.	O	N	Sikhs
Akilathirattu Ammanai		Tamil	O	S	Ayyavazhism
Arul Nool		Tamil	O	S	Ayyavazhism

Sacred Books : Taoism, Confucianism & Shintoism

Book	Name	Languages	Original	Sacred	Comments
Five Classics	五經	Chinese	O	N	Traditional Confucian cannon. Shijing, Shujing, Lijing, Yijing and Chunqiu. A sixth text known as “Classic of Music” was lost
Yijing	易經 (Book of Changes)	Chinese	O	N	Part of Five Classics. Highly regarded in Taoism. Used for Divinaton.
The Four Books	四书	Chinese	O	N	Core values and belief system in Confucianism. Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Mencius, Analects
Tao Te King	道德經	Chinese	O	S	Taoism
Zhuang Zi	莊子	Chinese	O	S	Taoism
Liezi	列子	Chinese	O	S	Taoism
Kojiki	古事記 (Ancient Chronicles)	Japanese	O	S	Shintoism
Nihongi		Japanese	O	N	Shintoism
Kogo Shui		Japanese	O	N	Shintoism. Oldest Written history of Japan. Complements the earlier

Sacred Books : Other Traditions

Book	Name	Languages	Religion	Comments
Arzhang		Syriac	Manichaeism	Also known as the Book of Pictures. The original was lost. Some copies and translations still exist but we don’t know if the full text exists.
Kitêba Cilweh	The Book of Revelations	Kurmanji	Yezidism	Original text unknown outside Kurdish Community
Mishefa Reş		Kurmanji	Yezidism	Original text unknown outside Kurdish Community
Saranjâm	سه ره نجام	Gorani	Yarsanism	Central book
Enuma Elish		Akkadian	Old Mesopotamian Religions	tablets in cuneiform. Part of the texts were lost.
Gilgamesh		Sumerian, Akkadian	Old Mesopotamian Religions	Most of the known text is in Akkadian. Probably oldest accounts in Sumerian were lost
Popol Vuh		K’iche	Mayan Religion	Mythology and history of K’iche people. 4 books.
Chilam Balam	Secrets of the Soothsayers	Maya, Spanish	Mayan Religion	There are different versions. Some parts are lost. Includes Myths and prophecies
Edda		Old Norse	Norse Myths	Poetic and Prose Edda
Hávamál	Sayings of the High One	Old Norse	Norse Myths	Collections of Poems. Parts of Edda. Words Attributed to Odin
Völuspá	Prophecies of the seeress	Old Norse	Norse Myths	Best known poem of Poetic Edda. The Creation of the world. Prophecies
Book of the Dead		Old Egyptian	Ancient Egyptian Religions	Collection of funerary texts. Written in papyrus and originally carved in tombs and coffins. There’s no single cannon, the most famous is the Papyrus of Ani