KOTA SAMARAHAN: The Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka has published a Melayu Sarawak – Melayu Dewan dictionary containing more than 13,000 words in Melayu Sarawak dialect.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg congratulated DBP for such outstanding publication, saying he was confident the dictionary could be used as a reference by the community especially the younger generation.
“Not only that, this dictionary also can be used by language researchers to explore more on the Melayu Sarawak vocabulary.
“The publication of tribal language dictionary like this also contributes towards the enrichment of our national language through the absorption of tribal languages, especially to find a suitable match in accordance with new concepts that arise in current life.”
He said this in his text speech read by Deputy Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Development I (Women and Childhood Development) Datuk Rosey Yunus during the opening ceremony of the 2023 Borneo Lexicology and Lexicography International Conference (PALBORNEO 2023) and the launching of the Melayu Sarawak – Melayu Dewan dictionary at Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra (DeTAR), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) here, on Wednesday.
Abang Johari said as a Sarawakian, he was very proud when there are some dialects of Sarawak that have been taken into the national vocabulary.
“For example, the word Jerayawara is derived from the combination of the word ‘jeraya’ which means road in Melayu Sarawak while ‘wara’ means show or play.
“I was also informed that DBP introduced the word merarau which means lunch, and this word is taken from the Iban language.”
He said the documentation and preservation efforts of the tribal languages would not be able to be carried out alone by DBP without the support, enthusiasm and solid cooperation from various parties, especially universities, associations and related private entities.
“This language is our treasure, so we are the ones who must defend it together,” he added.
Meanwhile, on the conference, Abang Johari said he was grateful to DBP for giving the state the honour of hosting the first ever PALBORNEO 2023.
“The organisation of the conference is an initiative to continue the tradition of discussing aspects of language that support civilisation and human thinking.
“Through a conference like this, researchers and language enthusiast from within and outside the country can present research results, share knowledge and views on the latest, more systematic methods to carry out language studies and research, including efforts to collect data and record the vocabulary of a language,” he said.
