Sindayani Language Official Dictionary

This brief article presents a preliminary report on the Nedebang language (ISO 639-3 code: nec), based on 65 pages of field notes collected by the author on Pantar Island July 27-30, 2004. Nedebang is one of four non-Austronesian languages spoken on the island of Pantar in the Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara Timur, in the region of 8.275 S latitude, 124.202 E longitude.

In: Razha Rashid & Wazir Jahan Karim (eds), Minority Cultures of Peninsular Malaysia: Survivals of Indigenous Heritage. Penang: Malaysian Academy of Social Sciences (AKASS) [ISBN 9789839700770], pp. 101–122, 2001

The Aslian portions of this chapter have been superseded by my paper "The Aslian languages of Malaysia and Thailand: an assessment", available on this webpage. The information on the Malayic varieties spoken by Orang Asli populations may still be of some use, however.

Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics

Conference on Language …, 2007

It is important for native speakers of a language to be able to measure the vitality of their own language and then to decide concrete steps to preserve it. Language vitality refers to the ability of a language to accommodate and perform a variety of functions and purposes of communication. This study examines vitality of Simeulue's Devayan language (SDL) in the Indonesia's Simeulue Island and covers seven out of ten sub-districts. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data about aspects of first language acquisition process, about uses of mother tongue in nine domains, and of language proficiency of G1, G2, G3, and G4. The preliminary results of the research showed that only 12% of the G4 generation have acquired SDL since they recognized that language. In terms of language use, using spider web diagram, the result of the stretched index scale of the language use was categorized stable, but eroded. From language proficiency lexical, translating, comprehension and speaking tests, the results varied corresponding to the age group. The conclusion can be drawn that SDL is relatively unknown in Aceh Province and that SDL is marginalized by languages brought by immigrants.

The Darai language, 2012

This dissertation is a description of Darai, an Indo-Aryan language, which was not adequately described before. It is a language spoken by 10210 people in the Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Tanahun districts of central and western Nepal. The data for this dissertation came largely from the natural texts. The text corpus was mainly obtained from the language consultants who were the inhabitants of Kathar, Chainpur, Mangalpur Village Development Committees and Bharatpur municipality of the Chitwan district. The grammatical analysis consists of phonology, morphology, syntax, sociolinguistic survey and notes on discourse. The appendix includes sociolinguistic questionnaire, background information of the language consultants, paradigms of verbs, indexes of grammatical morphemes and text samples.

SIKKHA Journal of Education, 2018

The objective of this article is to document a Nyo variety spoken in Kut Kho Kan village (Khok Samran subdistrict, Loeng Nok Tha district, Yasothon province), which has not been previously mentioned in the linguistic literature about Nyo dialects in Northeast Thailand. Among the Nyo speakers of Kut Kho Kan village who contributed to this research were two students of Roi Et Rajabhat University, still aware of the use of a distinct dialect in their native place. They helped the researcher reach Nyo speakers as well as speakers of other Tai dialects in a micro-linguistic area comprising districts belonging to three provinces (Mukdahan, Yasothon, and Amnat Charoen) of Northeast Thailand, where specific varieties of Tai languages (Southwestern branch) such as Phu Thai are also spoken. Further studies should thus include the documentation of those varieties, especially those of Phu Thai. Nyo as well as Phu Thai are language names as well as ethnonyms which can be found not only in Thailand, but also in neighboring countries such as Laos and Vietnam. Keywords: Language documentation, Nyo language, Phu Thai language, Tonal patterns, Micro-linguistic areas.

To uphold nationalism and sense of cultural identity, the constituents should be decisive in attaining success in language preservation, and espouse means in safeguarding cultural heritage. The study is conducted to determine the language use, to analyze the reasons of language usage, and to distinguish how the language operates as a vernacular in Dapitan City which is made possible through descriptive qualitative research with Dapitanon students of Jose Rizal Memorial State University as participants. The study is anchored on the theory of Chomsky on Linguistic Competence which defined the system of rules that governs an individual’s tacit understanding of what is acceptable and what is not in the language spoken. Respondents failed to use terms appropriately when requested to answer the statements crafted by the researcher based on Godin’s (2009) identified Sebuanong Binisaya items. They barely use some terms during interaction as the terms do not exist in their vernacular anymore, and they verified the use of English terms as alternative to unfamiliar terms. Inappropriate language usage is attributed to the practices of their elders, as well as the language attitudes of people around them. The language is used since their younger days while they are still acquiring the first language, and they establish the same language in their consciousness represented by the words they are using which rooted there. This means further that they fully adapt the language they picked from their precedence while still young without establishing awareness on the origin of the utterance. These words existed and had been already in place long before they were born. Children of today’s generation should be educated in the language of their home to do better in the later years of their education, and to empower them to be producers and consumers of knowledge who make wise and informed decisions.