Steps are underway to preserve and develop the native languages of Sabah.
Under
a Memorandum of Understanding, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is
combining efforts with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) to
prevent the extinction of some of the languages.
The institute is an organisation that specialises in the documenting and study of endangered languages around the world.
UMS
Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah, who represented the
university during the signing, said the partnership would help in the
efforts to stimulate research and the teaching of native languages in
the state.
“The younger generation is disinclined to learn and use
its native dialects and there is a real danger that some may face
extinction in the future,” he said.
“Hopefully, through this
collaboration, many linguists will take up the challenge of preserving
the native languages so that these will not be lost over time,” Dr Mohd
Harun added.
It is believed that under the agreement, UMS
researchers can now use the data collected by SIL Malaysia, which it had
been doing since 1978.
Both parties, said Dr Mohd Harun, would
also allow the exchange of academic staff and cooperation in the
documentation of languages as well as train local workers from the
relevant linguistic groups to record and archive certain native
languages to be preserved.
Also present during the signing were
SIL Malaysia acting director Cynthia M. Spoelman and Promotion of
Knowledge and Language Dean Prof Dr Vincent Pang.
Source: The Star
Language is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication
ReplyDeleteHuman language is unique among the lifeforms of Earth because its complex structure affords a much wider range of possible expressions and uses than any known system of animal communication, all of which are generally closed systems, with limited functions and mostly genetically rather than socially transmitted.
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