KOTA SAMARAHAN: Unimas is ready to make available its linguistic specialists for the purpose of research and documentation of local languages/dialects. Unima s Vi c e Chanc e l lor Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi said it would be a great loss if a certain language just disappeared without any documentation, buried together with its culture and history.
“Besides the State government, Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka (DBP) and other interested bodies, we welcome co-operation from foreign linguistic experts to preserve our local languages/dialects.
“At Unimas here, we also encourage research among local universities, both public and private, to unearth the unique diversities of Borneo languages, in the effort to preserve national culture,” said Dr Mohamad. His text of speech was read by the Dean of the Language and Communication Faculty, Dr Ambigapathy a/l Pandian during the opening ceremony of the Language and Linguistics Symposium 2017 at the university, yesterday morning which was attended by more than 150 people.
The Vice-Chancellor also raised concerns about records in the National Geographic Society in its Endurign Voice Project, stating that half of the earth’s 7,000 languages will disappear by the end of this century.
Thus, he said, the symposium should act as a platform for the researchers and linguistic experts to plan and implement the appropriate steps to document, preserve and conserve Bornean languages. “We at Unimas understand the importance of Bahasa Melayu and English as well as the various ethnic languages in Borneo.
“Courses in ethnic languages like Sarawak Malay Dialect, Bahasa Iban, Bahasa Bidayuh and Bahasa Melanau are available at Unimas. “Several of our academics are presently involved in the documentation of local languages with DBP,” he said.
Among those present at the event was the Director of DBP Sarawak, Dr Hazami Jahari, Fellow of the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Professor Dato’ Dr Teo Kok Seong and President of Malaysia Linguistics Association, Professor Dr Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin.
