Defending Linguistic Rights: The Girona Manifesto
Linguapax (2015), 77 pp.
"This brief manifesto aims to help citizens and organisations of all types to realise the great importance of linguistic diversity and to become committed to defending it. It aims to be a tool for the necessary consensus to ‘correct language imbalance and to ensure respect and full development for all languages, to establish the principles of language peace in the whole planet, in a fair and equitable manner, as a key factor for living together.’ At Linguapax we are convinced that respect for linguistic diversity must be fostered through families, communities and schools so that we are educated in this culture, promoting peace." (Page 4)
Principle 1: Linguistic Diversity is a World Heritage that Must be Valued and Protected, 8
Principle 2: Respect for All Languages and Cultures is Fundamental in the Process of Constructing and Maintaining Dialogue and Peace in the World, 21
Principle 3: All Individuals Learn to Speak in the Heart of a Community That Gives Them Life, Language, Culture and Identity, 25
Principle 4: Different Languages and Different Ways of Speaking are not only Means of Communication; they are also the Milieu in Which Humans Grow and Cultures are Built, 30
Principle 5: Every Linguistic Community has the Right for its Language to be Used as an Official Language in its Territory, 43
Principle 6: School Instruction Must Contribute to the Prestige of the Language Spoken by the Linguistic Community of the Territory, 48
Principle 7: It is Desirable for Citizens to have a General Knowledge of Various Languages, because it favours Empathy and Intellectual Openness, and Contributes to a Deeper Knowledge of One's Own Tongue, 51
Principle 8: The Translation of Texts, Especially the Great Works of Various Cultures, Represents a Very Important Element in the Necessary Process of Greater Understanding and Respect among Human Beings, 57
Principle 9: The Media is a Privileged Loudspeaker for Making Linguistic Diversity Work and for Competently and Rigorously Increasing its Prestige, 70
Principle 10: The Right to Use and Protect One's Own Language Must be Recognised by the United Nations as one of the Fundamental Human Rights, 74
Principle 2: Respect for All Languages and Cultures is Fundamental in the Process of Constructing and Maintaining Dialogue and Peace in the World, 21
Principle 3: All Individuals Learn to Speak in the Heart of a Community That Gives Them Life, Language, Culture and Identity, 25
Principle 4: Different Languages and Different Ways of Speaking are not only Means of Communication; they are also the Milieu in Which Humans Grow and Cultures are Built, 30
Principle 5: Every Linguistic Community has the Right for its Language to be Used as an Official Language in its Territory, 43
Principle 6: School Instruction Must Contribute to the Prestige of the Language Spoken by the Linguistic Community of the Territory, 48
Principle 7: It is Desirable for Citizens to have a General Knowledge of Various Languages, because it favours Empathy and Intellectual Openness, and Contributes to a Deeper Knowledge of One's Own Tongue, 51
Principle 8: The Translation of Texts, Especially the Great Works of Various Cultures, Represents a Very Important Element in the Necessary Process of Greater Understanding and Respect among Human Beings, 57
Principle 9: The Media is a Privileged Loudspeaker for Making Linguistic Diversity Work and for Competently and Rigorously Increasing its Prestige, 70
Principle 10: The Right to Use and Protect One's Own Language Must be Recognised by the United Nations as one of the Fundamental Human Rights, 74
