'Most Sabah indigenous languages endangered'
Published on: Thursday, March 28, 2024
By: Jozie John
Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) Malaysia Executive Director Dr Timothy Philips (third right) and UMS Vice-Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr. Kasim Mansor (third left) during the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony. (Photo: Daily Express/Jozie John)
Kota Kinabalu: Most of Sabah indigenous languages are deemed endangered.
Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) Malaysia Executive Director Dr Timothy Philips disclosed that this was partly because some indigenous groups are small in size and there’s also a break in language transmission to the next generation.
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Sabah has more than 40 indigenous groups.
Without naming which indigenous languages are extinct, Philips explained that the indigenous languages will eventually disappear if parents stop speaking them to their children.
Philips said this at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between Universiti Malaysia Sabah and SIL Malaysia at UMS Chancellery building, here, today.
The union between UMS and SIL Malaysia is an effort to conserve Sabah indigenous languages so that the next generation has access to the languages.
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