Muara, Brunei - Greater efforts and studies need to be made` to save minority languages such as Tutorig, Dusun, and Belait from extinction, said a university lecturer.
Dr Paolo Coluzzi, an Italian lecturer from the Language Centre of Universiti Brunei Darussalam, said that the number of parents below the age of 40 using the Brunei-Malay to speak to their children was higher in the 1990s compared to today.
The usage of Tutong language stood at 63 per cent, Dusun language spoken at 72 per cent while the Belait language greater than 90 per cent in the 90s, he said in his public lecture entitled Deontology of Sociolinguistic and Ethnomusicological Research.
"By looking at the works available on language - endangerment in Brunei Darussalam, the overall situation does not seem to give much hope for them, even though no full and extensive sociolinguistic surveys have been carried out so far," Dr Coluzzi said.
However, he quoted from a research on the minority languages done by Peter Martin, whereby predictions show that by the end of the century, the two minority languages most likely to, be spoken would be Iban and Murut.
But this is mainly because Murut and Iban are more spoken and to an extent, somewhat better protected in nearby borders like Sabah and Sarawak, he said.
His paper discussed the impact that a linguist can have on the language of a community, whose language he or she is carrying out field research.
His field study was done in Italy but he managed to bring to attention Brunei as an example, which would in turn lead to the aim of conducting a research project at contemplating data offered by academics that have dealt with the issue of language vitality and endangerment in Brunei.
He expressed his personal interest in pursuing a sociolinguistic survey in the Temburong district, which he hopes to include questions on language use and language attitude.
However, he said the need of help to create the Survey in the Malay language and the local language of either Murut or Iban.
He stated that he wished a good outcome from the survey as it will also allow the interviewees to be more at ease and willing to tell about the real situation. He hoped that it would encourage them to use their native language and the attitude without having any fear of having to show a better knowledge of the Malay or English language.
He concluded with some considerations on the attitudes that a committed researcher should have towards the speakers of the endangered language he or she is studying and the respect that they should exhibit towards the latter and towards the language itself.
Dr Coluzzi suggests that globalisation remains the biggest threat to the minority and regional languages which is precisely why the intervention of linguists is needed regardless of having a big impact or not.
At the same time, the linguists need to raise the minority or regional language`s status in a good way or else they may be accelerating the processes of globalisation.
Source: www.brudirect.com (27 Maret 2008)
