TAKSING, 30 Nov: The RIWATCH Centre for mother languages (RCML), in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi University’s Centre for Endangered Languages (CFEL), the Nah Welfare Society (NWS) and the Ngunuk Foundation conducted an outreach and book release programme here in Upper Subansiri district recently.
The programme featured the release of two books – Ethnographic Profile of the Nah (Tagin) of Arunachal Pradesh and A Dictionary of Nah – by NWS president Keru Chader and NWS general secretary Tache Chader, respectively.
The two books are outputs of the research project of the CFEL titled, ‘Documentation of endangered languages, oral narratives and cultures of the lesser-known tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh’,supported by the North Eastern Council (NEC), Shillong.
CFEL coordinator RGU Prof S Simon Johncongratulated the native speakers of Nah language and the CFEL research team for collaboratively bringing out the two books on the Nah community. He said that the two books are the tangible outputs of the collaborative efforts of the Nah community and the CFEL research team.
“Due to the dynamicity which is a characteristic feature of languages, all languages change and evolve through time. Timely documentation of every language helps the future researchers in tracing the affinity of languages belonging to its genetic affiliation,” the RCML stated in a release.
RCML head Dr Mechek Sampar Awan in his address said that the “output of this research not only helps in the literature development of the Nah community but will also facilitate in ensuring the closed affinities of the Nah language to the Tagin language in particular and the Tani language branch of Tibeto-Burman group in general.
“The visit of the RCML team aims at the documentation of Nah language to develop children’s pictorial glossary books in the Nah language and documentation of the Siju festival of the Nah community for a documentary film that would be published and produced by the RIWATCH,” he added.
Addressing the function, Ngunuk Foundation director Dr Kaling Dabi gave assurance that the foundation would extend support to the Nah community in their initiatives in promoting and preserving their endangered cultural heritage. He stressed that the native community should play a crucial role in the promotion and revitalization of their endangered language and culture.
RCML research officer Dr Kombong Darang said that “the RCML will bring out a documentary film from the documented audiovisual data of the Siju festival and the culture of Nah.”
The programme was attended by AITS-RGU Assistant Professor Dr Lisa Lomdak, the native speakers of Nah language, office bearers of the Tagin Cultural society, the Kojum Welfare Society, the Taksing Buddhist Welfare Society, and the organizing committee of the Siju festival celebration.
During the Siju festival on 27 November, an extempore speech competition in the Nah language was conducted to promote and revitalise the language. Organised by the Nah Welfare Society in collaboration with the RCML, the competition saw the participation of around 20 individuals. The first and the second prize were won by Tatop Sare and Logu Tarba, respectively.
The RCML team also conducted a field study in Taksing to document the language and culture of the Nah to develop pictorial glossary books in the Nah language. “It focused on the elicitation of textual data on the Nah language and audiovisual documentation of Nah language and oral narratives for research analyses and digital archives at RIWATCH,” the release added.
