International Mother Language Day: Languages we may lose soon

Mang Pu Mro, 78, from Kranchipara of Bandarban's Alikadam upazila, is among the last seven speakers, all of whom are elderly, of Rengmitcha language.

Mang Pru's son Singrao Mro, 49, however, only knows a few words in Rengmitcha, which, he said, is spoken only in a few families in their community.

With the deaths of these few remaining speakers, the death of the entire language seems inevitable.

Sisters Veronica and Christina Kerketa, aged 70 and 65, are the last two women who can fluently speak the Kharia language.

A resident of a remote village in Moulvibazar's Sreemangal upazila, Veronica said, "Once we are gone, no one will speak this language. I tried to teach the younger people of our community our language, but they show no interest. No one in our own family even speaks Kharia anymore. We need to communicate in Sadri [spoken by a majority of tea-worker in Sylhet division] of Bangla with them."

According to latest Population and Housing Census 2022, there are 16,50,478 people from 50 ethnic minorities in the country. The census by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics has also listed some other unidentified minorities.

According to the International Mother Language Institute, there are 41 languages, including ethnic ones, spoken across Bangladesh.

Of them, 14 -- Rengmitcha, Kharia, Kondo, Koda, Soura, Mundari, Kole, Malto, Khumi, Pangkhua, Chak, Khyang, Lusai, and Laleng (Patro) -- have been recognised as "endangered" -- are disappearing.

In its "Ethno-Linguistic Survey of Bangladesh", which ended in 2018, it said the population size of the ethnic communities who speak these 14 languages range from 1,000 to 40,000 -- mostly in the north, the Sylhet region, and the Chattogram Hill Tracts.

According to UNESCO, "A language disappears when its speakers disappear or when they shift to speaking another language – most often, a larger language used by a more powerful group."

As the nation today observes "Amar Ekushey" – Language Martyr's Day – and International Mother Language Day, one question remains – are we doing enough to preserve and protect all our languages?

WHY ARE SOME LANGUAGES DYING?

Prof Shourav Sikder, a researcher of the survey and linguistics professor at Dhaka University, said, "When a language is lost, a culture is lost. A whole people get lost from history."

Though linguists say that recorded documentation is essential for preserving languages, Prof Mohammad Ashaduzzaman, chairman and professor of DU's linguistics department, believes that not many visible steps are being taken right now to preserve and revitalise the disappearing languages.

"The IMLI should gather linguists and others concerned to prepare a detailed plan for the preservation and revitalisation of the languages but we have not seen that."

The IMLI is legally bound to take steps to preserve the languages of ethnic minorities through its written forms.

However, five years after recognising the 14 endangered languages, no such steps have been visible.

IMLI officials said when the survey was conducted, researchers collected 300 words of each of the country's languages, including the endangered ones, with translations.

The survey began in 2013 and there was a plan to publish the research in 10 parts. So far, only one has been published.

Prof Shourav said a language is considered endangered when it has less than 10,000 speakers.  

"From our position I can say we have submitted the report. I am not aware what the International Mother Language Institute has done with it so far."

On the other hand, the ICT division had undertaken a three-year project titled "Enhancement of Bangla Language in ICT through Research and Development", under which there was a component to digitise the ethnic languages for preservation.

After beginning the Tk 158 crore project in 2017, the division requested a four-year extension saying it would be completed by June 2024.

However, now project officials say they would need another two-year extension as some of the work remains unfinished.

Project Director Mahbub Karim said, "We've collected the recordings of 12,000 minutes of speeches [in each language] and formed a trilingual glossary. We're now analysing those. We'll be able to make it public soon."

Meanwhile, though the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has been distributing textbooks among pre-primary to class-three students in five ethnic languages -- Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Garo, and Sadri -- since 2017, the endangered languages remain largely ignored.

NCTB member (curriculum) Prof Moshiuzzaman said most of the ethnic languages do not have alphabets.

"So right now, we don't have any plan to publish textbooks in all languages other than the five."

He, however, added that the free textbooks will not be distributed to students after class three.

"If we do that, they will be disconnected from the mainstream. They can learn their own language till class three, after that they have to learn the language used in the mainstream."

CHALLENGES APLENTY

Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said that in this era of capitalism, many languages have become extinct.

"The people who use these [dying] languages don't have the power to keep them alive…. The education system in the country is centered on the state language, and those who aren't educated in it will fall behind."

Focusing on the youth population, Prof Ashaduzzaman said, "In some cases, the population sizes of ethnic minorities increase, but their languages remain in danger as the younger generation don't use them."

He added that languages disappear due to different reasons, including social, economic, political and cultural obligations.

"Many leave behind their mother language due to the pressure of speaking the language of the majority, and when they think they will get no benefit from speaking their native language."

According to Prof Shourav Sikder, a language dies when the youth refuse to speak it.

"It gets lost when the new generations don't want to use it, especially because there is no opportunity for primary education in their mother tongue."

This newspaper approached members of at least five separate ethnic minority groups from the hilly districts and Moulvibazar. Most of them said though they love to, they refrain from speaking in their language as they face ridicule.

Joyanta Tripura, of Khagrachhari, said, "Bangla is the language in which we study. So, we need to know Bangla to get jobs."

During a visit to Dayal Chandra Para Government Primary School in Bandarban's Alikadam upazila yesterday, it was found that though there are about 30 Marma students in the school, none of the teachers know the language.

The situation was similar in Doluchhara Government Primary School in Sreemangal upazila of Moulvibazar district.

"There are students from Tripura community but we don't have any teacher who can read or write in their language," said Arun Chandra Datta, headteacher of the school.

This goes to show that even the non-endangered languages, in which NTCB has published textbooks, are in a crisis.

Meanwhile, Prof Hakim Arif, director general of the IMLI, said one of the major reasons they are not being able to move forward with the preservation of endangered languages is a "severe crisis of researchers who know those languages".

"We are trying to find people who know the languages and do research accordingly. If we find such people, we'll be able to take necessary steps."

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Indigenous People's Forum, said, "All our languages must be preserved. Indigenous languages are not getting due importance…. They'll all disappear."

He said that as a nation that made the supreme sacrifice for language, it is the country's responsibility to protect the languages of all.

Prof Ashaduzzaman suggested that primary education in a student's mother language is an excellent way of keeping it alive.

He also said the IMLI should establish a separate cell with language experts from all ethnic communities. 

Prof Serajul said the government should encourage and give incentives to revive the endangered languages.

"A language policy ensuring the dignity of all languages can be framed. However, a policy is not enough; its implementation must be ensured."

(Our Moulvibazar and Bandarban correspondents contributed to this report.)