KUCHING: The Sarawak Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) will continue to collaborate with stakeholders in documenting Sarawak’s indigenous languages for registration in the language database system.
Its director Abang Haliman Abang Julai said that this effort is necessary to prevent ethnic languages in the state from becoming extinct.
He noted that so far, four indigenous languages in Sarawak have become extinct namely Lelak, Seru, Pegu, and Liut.
“It is a pity that these languages have become extinct. So we do not want these indigenous languages to disappear just like that because Sarawak has more than 30 ethnic groups.
“(We hope) to ensure that all of these ethnic languages can be recorded, as a reminder and for future generations’ understanding, as well as to highlight these indigenous languages as part of the national language,” he said.
He said this during closing ceremony of Sarawak Ethnic Language General Database Workshop at Rooftop, Penview Hotel yesterday.
Realising that the process takes quite some time, he is confident that it will yield results, even if carried out in stages.
This includes scrutinising the meaning of each documented word as well as involving discussions to find the final word before being sent to the DBP for recording.
“There is a certain process; firstly, the word is not found in the national language, if any, and its meaning is more to enrich the language.
“Although slow in the effort to record or publish indigenous languages, it still needs to go through a quite lengthy process, and there are also lists of other ethnic groups’ words that have been published, compiled, and published as dictionaries,” he said.
Taking the workshop held for four days from March 16 as an example, Abang Haliman said that over 500 words or terms were successfully collected, and their meanings will be scrutinised before being accepted by the DBP.
Therefore, the role of stakeholders, including community leaders, language researchers, students, and teachers, is crucial in collaborating with DBP.
“Not only are we trying to highlight each ethnic group, but these indigenous languages are also important languages that contribute to the progress of the national language itself.
“This is the intention; the Sarawak Branch of the DBP cannot move alone with limited manpower; without the help and encouragement of stakeholders, this commitment may be difficult to implement well,” he said.
Earlier, 25 people had participated in the workshop, representing their respective associations involving the Melanau, Kiput, Kayan, Remun, Bisaya, Punan, Malay, Bidayuh, Kejaman, and Berawan ethnic groups.
