原文
如果有人说，地球上保留几十种至多几百种动物就足够了，其他的物种可以任意捕杀，或坐视它们随着生存圈被人类蚕食而渐渐消亡，有良知的人们一定不会同意。
但与此同时，人类虽然没有明言他要杀死小语种和方言，但在行动上似乎只准备保留几十个大语种，甚至越来越集中在几个大语种的使用上，并且是如此坦然地帮助和促进大语种对小语种的吞噬。
为什么要保护物种和语种？首先在于权利。每一物种都有在地球上生存的权利，每一个小民族都有使用祖先传递给他们的语言的权利，那几乎是他们最重要的特征。其次，这种保护对其他物种，对其他人，对全人类都有好处。文化储藏和积淀在语言中。人类文化的多样性储藏在其多样的语种中。一个强健的生态系必然是多样的，反过来这种多样性又可以帮助它适应和安渡环境的变迁。正如同一个愚钝的村妇宁愿牺牲一点便利，也会拒绝将她的全部鸡蛋放在一个篮子里。（郑也夫《是保护方言的时候了》）
译文
Time to Protect Dialects from Extinction
Men of conscience do not condone the notion that animals can be hunted and killed at will provided a few dozen species are kept, or a few hundred at the most. Nor do they watch with folded arms when animals are left to die out after losing their fair share of living space to mankind.
Paradoxically, human beings are behaving as if they were prepared to keep only a few dozen majority languages, even though they do not profess to get rid of minority languages and dialects. They have gone so far as to limit their use of languages to a few major ones, and have no qualms about literally helping majority languages lick up minority ones.
Why should animal species and languages be protected? Because, firstly, their right is at stake. Every species has the right to survival. Every minority community is entitled to use the language it has inherited from its ancestors, in many cases as the singular emblem of its ethnic identity. Secondly, protecting species is as conducive to wildlife and mankind as safeguarding dialects is to languages. Cultures are reposed and accumulated in languages. Cultural diversity entails linguistic diversity. A sound ecosystem is predicated on diversity, and diversity offers the ecosystem alternatives to adapt itself to the changing environment in very much the same way as a country woman chooses not to put all her eggs in one single basket, even if it makes things a little inconvenient for her. (凌原 译)