Below is an article published by the Morung Express:

‘Nagas face big threat in promoting or preserving their languages’

Ura Academy president Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu on Saturday asserted that young people cannot converse in their mother tongues beyond their boundaries, for which they converse in Nagamese which is more or less circumstantial and not very healthy for the growth of local languages.

“As of today, Nagamese, is a lingua franca and not a language,” he said adding “God forbid, but at this rate Nagamese may swallow many Naga languages.”

Quoting Russ Rymer that one language dies every 14 days, Dr. Lieizietsu, who is also president of Naga People’s Front (NPF) said “By the next century nearly half of the roughly 7000 languages spoken on earth will like disappear, as communities abandon native tongues in favour of English, Mandarin or Spanish.”

Stating that the fastest growing language in the Naga society today is ‘Nagamese,’ State Council of Educational Research & Training (SCERT) director Vipralhou Kesiezie said Nagamese first started as a market language amongst the various tribes and eventually it has come to be accepted by all section of the society.

“Today we have written books in Nagamese which is widely used by the church and even civil society,” he said adding that Nagamese is the most common language even amongst the youth and students.

A few years back, SCERT conducted a survey in the changing pattern of languages spoken by students, teachers and parents under Kohima district

A few findings read: about 10% of students cannot read, write or speak their mother tongue particularly children of inter-marriage families, about 80% of students interact with the friends in Nagamese, most parents speak to the children either in English or Nagamese, about 80% students opt for Alternative English in lieu of MT/MIL and many teachers use both English and Nagamese even in classroom teaching.

Stating that Naga tribal languages have been badly neglected and ignored for too long, he said “Considering the given scenario of tribal languages in the Naga society, the Nagaland University (NU) and the SCERT, Government of Nagaland decided to come together and create a platform where we can share our concern for preservation and promotion of Naga languages through seminars, symposiums, workshops and research studies.”

If, we fail to act on time most of the Naga languages would fall under the category of endangered languages as per the definition of UNESCO, he said.

The director said the Nagas in general today face a big threat in promoting or preserving their languages due to several factors. The following, he said, are some of the major factors; in view of the multiplicity of tribal languages English has been made as the medium of instruction in schools; English is the official language of the state; due to multiple tribal languages Alternative English is taught as subject in lieu of Mother Tongues in school.

Tenyidie and a few more tribal languages are taught upto Class III/V/VIII/X/XII, he said adding that the percentage of students opt for Mother Tongue is however as low as 10-20%.

Kesiezie suggested that the present Department of Tenyidie under NU should be upgraded to the Department of Naga Tribal Languages and also government should do away with Alternative English and make Mother Tongue as a compulsory subject at all levels of education.

Dr. Pangersenla Walling, member Linguistics Fraternity NU said that 187 languages in India are under threat of disappearing and 9 already extinct. Out of 187 endangered languages 64 are in the north east along Indo-Nepal border.

Dr. Walling said about 15 languages are spoken in Nagaland.

NU Linguistic Fraternity coordinator Dr. Mimi Kevichüsa Ezung said Nagaland is a land of myriad languages and culture, and is often referred to as a “gold-mine for linguists.” She said three institutions; Institute of World Languages, SCERT and NU are single-mindedly and independently working on the promotion of research, training, development and preservation of languages.

“The convergence of the three institutes through sharing of resources and networking would go a long way in achieving a common goal, thus encouraging and facilitating the development of languages of all the Naga tribes,” said Dr. Mimi Kevichüsa Ezung.

The inaugural of Forum on Naga Languages (FNL) took place at NIELIT, Meriema Saturday with Nagaland’s governor Ashwani Kumar as the chief guest.

The Forum aim to conduct monthly talks based on research (linguistics or literary) on the Naga languages and to organize timely training programmes for language teachers and officers at the school and college level.

The purpose of FNL is to create awareness of linguistic studies among all Naga tribes, preservation of the Naga languages and to promote research-based development of the Naga languages, she said.

Apart from research scholars, this platform reaches out to language teachers, language officers, members of the various literary committees, academicians from different disciplines, local authors, and intellectual whose participation would enrich and further discussion on language research.

Such an academic activity would help in the formulation of a language specific structured syllabus for each of the undeveloped languages at the school, college and university levels,” she added.