KUCHING: A special task force will be established in Sarawak next year to conduct research and document tribal languages in the state so that they can be registered in the language database system.
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) director-general Dr Hazami Jahari said the team will be established by the Sarawak DBP in collaboration with the Unimas Faculty of Languages and Communication to carry out the research.
“It is one of DBP’s efforts on preserving tribal languages, as well as ensuring tribal languages that are said to be almost extinct and spoken ethnically in Sarawak can be recorded and documented,” he said.
He said this to reporters after the Back to School Magazine Action Programme (MDK) at SMK Tun Abang Haji Openg here, yesterday.
Dr Hazami said research and documentation of tribal languages has been carried out for a long time in the state.
He said that research has been carried out on almost all the tribal languages in Sarawak including some mentioned by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg recently as having been categorised as endangered languages such as Miriek, Kelabit and Punan.
“DBP has indeed mobilised efforts to pay attention and DBP research officers have also been instructed to collaborate with the Unimas Faculty of Languages and Communication to carry out specific studies on these endangered languages.
He said DBP has also published various dictionaries of tribal languages in Sarawak such as the Iban Language Dictionary; Dictionary of Melanau Mukah; Sarawak Malay Dialect Dictionary; Baie Dialect Dictionary; Bidayuh Language Dictionary; Kedayan Language Dictionary and others.
Commenting further, he said the effort to document tribal languages is a continuous one carried out by DBP, besides also focusing on ethnic tribal languages that are almost extinct.
In fact, Dr Hazami said, during the launch of the Malay-Narum Language List in Marudi earlier he was informed that only about 500 Narum speakers still live in Sarawak.
DBP also collaborates with tribal language associations in Sarawak, he said.
