The State and Fate of Linguistic Diversity and Inclusion in the NLP World

Language technologies contribute to promoting multilingualism and linguistic\ndiversity around the world. However, only a very small number of the over 7000\nlanguages of the world are represented in the rapidly evolving language\ntechnologies and applications. In this paper we look at the relation between\nthe types of languages, resources, and their representation in NLP conferences\nto understand the trajectory that different languages have followed over time.\nOur quantitative investigation underlines the disparity between languages,\nespecially in terms of their resources, and calls into question the "language\nagnostic" status of current models and systems. Through this paper, we attempt\nto convince the ACL community to prioritise the resolution of the predicaments\nhighlighted here, so that no language is left behind.\n