He was speaking at a national workshop on multidisciplinary perspectives on indigenous languages, cultures and societies, organised at the University of Mysore, on Monday. He said this could pose a threat not only to indigenous languages which are already on the verge of extinction, but also to the official languages in the next 50 years. Research on languages should not end with field studies; it should be backed up by publication of primers and dictionaries to help preserve indigenous languages, he added. Indigenous languages have been harmed by the interventions made in the name of progress, civilisational advancement and acculturation, all supported by the discourses that control the cognitive understanding of the indigenous communities, Prof. Chenni added. The focus is to bring together researchers and academicians from different disciplines to deliberate and present their work on indigenous languages, cultures and societies, and train participants in thrust areas pertaining to oral history, translation and indigenous languages, linguistic and cultural diversity, dictionary-making and grammar writing in indigenous languages, culture, food and medicine.

Source: The Hindu December 30, 2019 15:12 UTC