TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Govt aims to identify more local languages
Change Size
Diverse culture: Female dancers perform Gandrung, a traditional dance from Banyuwangi, East Java, during the 72nd Indonesian Independence Day celebration at State Palace in Jakarta on Aug.17.
(JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
The Culture and Education Ministry is intensifying its efforts to identify local languages and keep them from going extinct.
The ministry’s language agency head, Dadang Sunendar, said as quoted by Antara that his institution had identified 646 local languages. The agency hopes to identify more languages over the next two months.
Blessed by a diverse culture, Indonesia has seen a number of local languages go extinct because no one uses them anymore. Some of these include Hoti, Hukumina, Hulung, Loun, Mapia, Moksela, Palumata, Saponi, Serua and Teun.
Dadang said the ministry had instructed all provinces in Indonesia to select language ambassadors, two from each province, to work to preserve near-extinct local languages.
South Kalimantan language ambassador Muhammad Andri HF told Antara there were 18 local languages in the province.
He said, however, that only the Banjar language was frequently used in daily life. “We are trying to preserve other languages,” said Andri. (mos/ebf)
