INDONESIA STRIVES TO PRESERVE LOCAL LANGUAGES by Fardah

    Jakarta, Sept 25, 2014 (Antara) - Having a population of 253 million, more than 1000 ethnic and sub ethnic groups, Indonesia is linguistically a very diverse country, with a single national language - Bahasa Indonesia, and some 746 local languages.

         According to the the National Language Center at the Ministry of Education and Culture, Indonesia has more than 746 ethnic languages across the country.

         The ethnic languages in Indonesia belong to both the Austronesian or Malay language families, and non-Austronesian or Trans New Guinean language families.

        But it is predicted that about 90 percent of these ethnic languages will disappear by the end of the 21st century because the number of speakers become less and less.

        Particularly, the languages in the eastern part of Indonesia are classified into the language of minority because of continuous decreasing number of speakers.

         Of the over 740 local languages, only 13 are spoken by more than one million people. The major local languages include Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese. While most of local languages are spoken by just few people.

        Java is the most populous island in Indonesia and with a population of 123 million, it is home to 20 local languages. Currently, Javanese is the most widely spoken local language with 75.5 million speakers, followed by Sundanese, which is spoken by 27 million people.

        Papua, with a population of 2.2 million has 271 indigenous languages, while Maluku, with a population of five million people, a has 403 local languages. 
    According to information available on the website of Ethnologue.com, there are 719 individual languages listed for Indonesia. Of these, 706 are living and 13 are extinct. Of the living languages, 19 are institutional, 86 are developing, 261 are vigorous, 265 are in trouble, and 75 are dying.

        Some minority languages are endangered because they are no longer spoken. Linguists consider extinction of local languages is just as serious as the disappearance of animal and plant species.

        In a seminar on local languages held in Jakarta, on Sept 24, the Indonesian government was urged to prevent the extinction of local languages by including them in the educational curriculum.

         "Concrete actions are needed to preserve the local languages, for instance, by issuing clear regulations. Do not let any more local languages to become extinct," Dean of the University of Cendrawasih Nomensen Mambraku stated while addressing the seminar organized by Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Language and the Indonesian Education and Culture Ministry.

         He stressed on the importance of a lesson on local language being made compulsory for the students. He even suggested that the students and teachers should speak the local languages in the classrooms.

         Some 330 local languages across Indonesia were on the brink of extinction, according to Sheldon Shaeffer, SEAMEO QITEP in Language's consultant, said in the seminar.

         "There are 330 local languages on the brink of extinction in Indonesia, and most of them are languages of minority ethnic groups," Shaeffer pointed out.

         In Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, several children could no longer communicate with their parents as they could not converse in their local language.

         In order to help preserve the local languages, Shaeffer was of the viewpoint that local languages should be spoken in classrooms, particularly in the case of elementary school and kindergarten students.

         The SEAMEO is a regional intergovernmental organization established in 1965 among the governments of Southeast Asian countries to promote regional cooperation in education, science, and culture in the region.

         Bambang Indriyanto of the Education and Culture Ministry remarked that the usage of local languages in school has been protected under the existing regulations.

         "The Law No 20/2003 on National Education System has guaranteed the preservation of local languages," he affirmed.

    
    Papuan languages    
   In Indonesia's eastern most provinces of Papua and West Papua, some 275 Papuan languages are on the brink of extinction as many Papuans no longer speak their local languages.

       "There are several factors responsible for the extinction of the local languages and one of them is that many Papuans no longer speak their native languages," Hugo Warami, a lecturer at the University of Papua, located in Manokwari, West Papua, noted in the seminar.

        With the presence of so many local languages, the people of Papua need a unifying language, according to Warami.

        They speak Indonesian language more often than their local languages.

       "In cities particularly, we hardly find young people speaking their native languages," he remarked.

        Hugo Warami stated that most of youngsters under 30 years of age are no longer able to speak their local languages.

        One of the most critically endangered Papuan language is Dusner language, which is psoken by tribel members in Wandamen Bay area, Cenderawasih.

        Dusner is believed to be one of the 25 most endangered languages in the world.

        Linguists from the University of Oxford was reportedly trying to help preserve the Dusner language believed to be spoken by only three persons who had escaped natural disasters. 
   Jeremias Koridama of the Papuan education and culture office told the seminar that five dictionaries of Papuan local languages have been published in order to promote the use of local languages.

         "So far, we have published five dictionaries of local languages: Dani (Hubula)-Indonesia; Marid-Indonesia; Biak-Indonesia; Waopen-Indonesia; and Sentani-Indonesia," he revealed.

         It took almost six months to a year to make one dictionary, he remarked.

         "The five dictionaries have been completed. But, we faced numerous problems while working on them," he noted, adding that not many Papuans really had mastery in their local languages.

          Those who still speak the local Papuan languages are mostly living in hinterland areas and are above 40 years of age.

         Indonesia in general and Papua in particular are not alone in facing language extinction problem.

         The United Nations Cultural Heritage Fund reported that 2498 languages of the World¿s existing 6900 languages are in danger of disappearing. ***3***
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(T.F001/A/F. Assegaf/A. Abdussalam) 25-09-2014 20:53:46