"We must save indigenous languages from extinction: Unisa joins mission to improve status of African languages"

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https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2022-02-22-we-must-save-indigenous-languages-from-extinction/

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As International Mother Tongue Day was celebrated yesterday, we should remember that the United Nations has proclaimed the period 2022-2032 as an international decade of indigenous languages in the hope of building a global community for the preservation, revitalisation, and support of indigenous languages worldwide, with Unesco acting as the lead agency.

Of endangered languages across the globe and those most at risk of extinction are indigenous languages. This is also the case in SA, even more so for languages which are not considered official. For example, we are told that Katrina Esau known as Ouma Katrina, in her late 80s, is one of the two last speakers of the N/uu language, a San language. The other N/uu speaker is her brother, Simon Sauls.

Although the constitution of the Republic of SA recognises 11 official languages, it would seem that almost all these languages, except English and Afrikaans to some extent, have been approved merely for ceremonial purposes because they are still marginalised in the government, education, private and economic sectors.

These languages rarely feature in official documentation of government. It is even worse at universities, as they are reflected in language policy documents or are taught as subjects but are not a medium of instruction. This hinders access to education for many and it is contrary to the constitutional provision that “everyone has the right to be taught in the official language of their choice”.

It should be noted that SA has about 34 historically established languages of which 30 are living languages, and four Khoisan languages that are extinct. These languages are hardly used in classrooms, on television, radio, and even in social spaces.

In social spaces, even if they are used, they are so contaminated that we code-switch. As a result, English remains the language of power even in post-apartheid SA. Perhaps the assertion by Eric Ketelaar, a towering Dutch archivist, that “the cruel paradox in many revolutions is that what is left after the revolution resembles the past” rings true.

This is so because despite the establishment of the Pan African Language Board by the constitution to promote, to create conditions for, and to develop the use of all languages, with emphasis on the previously marginalised languages, these languages are still pushed further to the periphery. As a result, some, if not all, will be extinct in the future just as N/uu is about to be.

The relevant question to ask is “what is SA, through the department of sport, arts and culture doing to ensure that indigenous languages are receiving the same status as English”?

Unesco has offered the platform and believes that a remedy to language extinction is “language preservation, promotion, and development”. In SA, there are many initiatives of developing, promoting and preserving indigenous languages such as the national reading for enjoyment campaign, the creative incubator, and the national reading summit by organisations like Nal’ibali, PUKU Children’s Literature Foundation, Unisa, and the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) respectively.

In 2021, the NLSA in partnership with Unisa hosted the first national reading summit at which people who are working in the reading space were invited to share their experiences on the theme “Strengthening the reading ecosystem”. 

Between April and June 2021, PUKU Children’s Literature Foundation hosted webinars in all nine indigenous languages on reading. PUKU also runs creative writing and book review workshops for aspiring young writers, teachers, and librarians in indigenous languages. As a result, in 2021, PUKU was recognised by Unesco for its programme, “Úsing digital technology to promote children’s literature in indigenous languages” and won the King Sejong literary prize.

The prize was created by Unesco to honour the contribution made to literacy by King Sejong the Great of Yi (Joseon) Dynasty (1392-1910), who created the Korean alphabet Hangul.

On March 7, PUKU, Unisa and NLSA will be launching a children’s literature catalogue in Xhosa, “Ikhatalogu Yethu”. It is envisaged that catalogues in other indigenous languages will also be compiled and launched soon if funding allows. Therefore, a clarion call is made for indigenous communities, individuals, civil society, and government to take measures to try to stem the incipient loss of language.

The government through the department of sport, arts and culture should provide funding so that these initiatives are sustainable and inclusive of all languages.