27 Local Languages in Kalimantan Could Go Extinct

jpnn.com, JAKARTA - As many as 16 local languages in East Kalimantan and 11 local languages in North Kalimantan could go extinct because they have very few speakers.

"Losing a language means losing the culture of the people who speak it," said the head of the East Kalimantan Provincial Language Office, Anang Santosa, in his presentation commemorating the 2021 Language and Literature Month, Monday (25/10).

Various efforts to preserve the languages continue, including by documenting it in the form of a book to contain the culture and tribal traditions in the areas.

Anang revealed that there had been many books that wrote about the culture and traditions of East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan in the Indonesian language. However, there are only few works that are actually written in the local languages.

"It is ironic that almost no literary works about the rich culture and traditions of local wisdom in East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan written in the local languages," said Anang.

He said that the culture and traditions of East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan were more than enough to be references for literary writing.

One of the pillars of local languages is the existence of local literature, both spoken and written.

"Therefore, it is on us to contribute to growing the tradition of writing literature in local languages in these two provinces," he said.