To Prevent Local Languages from Extinction
UNESCO in February 2019 declared that some 2,500 languages in the world are under threat of extinction, hundreds of which are ethnic languages in Indonesia. In the last 30 years, 200 languages have become extinct. Some 3,000 local languages are on the brink of disappearing by the end of this century. The Language Development Agency is continuing its efforts to revitalize local languages by composing dictionaries, while organizing script systems and teaching materials. Tempo publishes this report to celebrate October, the Language and Literature Month.
Isma Sawitri
October 25, 2021
THE group of children formed a circle by holding hands. Dancing and singing, they played a traditional game jilon-jilon as they broke into peals of laughter. Complying with the rules of the game, the little children of Bobaneigo village, West Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, continually sang the words of the song in the Gorap language.
At first, not all the children understood the words they were singing. In their daily lives, they converse in t
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