ITANAGAR, Feb 16: A review meeting on the ongoing research scheme titled ‘Linguistic survey of Arunachal Pradesh’, being undertaken by the research directorate’s philology section, was held on Friday.
Research Minister Mohesh Chair emphasized the need to conduct field research to identify the speech communities in Arunachal Pradesh. Quoting the UNESCO report on the endangered languages spoken by the people of Arunachal Pradesh, Chai suggested “bringing out the authentic picture on the level of endangerment.”
He emphasized on defining the criteria, methodology and other related concepts to accomplish the research project. “This is the need of the hour in the present society,” he said.
Secretary Research Dani Salu suggested to the field research officers to conduct linguistic survey using proper research methodology, “because the outcome of the research project will be notified by the government, which is to be used as official references.”
He said it is important to preserve the identity of the indigenous communities. “Survey should be based on the numbers of languages spoken by the people, rather than tribe identity,” he said.
Research Director Batem Pertin presented a brief on the research project and spoke about conducting analytical research and its modus operandi.
Philology Deputy Director Jimi Pulu spoke about terminology, criteria, identification of speech communities, methodology, and other challenges.
Philology Assistant Director Victor Landi and language officers also participated in the discussion.
