KUCHING: The workshop on the validation of the Sekapan-Malay Language Vocabulary Manuscript has yielded promising outcomes for the preservation of the Sekapan language.
Held from May 23 to 26, the workshop was a joint initiative of the Sekapan Ethnic Association, Belaga, and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP).
One of the aims of the workshop at the Belaga District Office was to address the threat of language extinction faced by the Sekapan language and other minority languages worldwide.
It also aimed to promote the continued use of the Sekapan language.
Linguists and language experts stressed the importance of documenting and safeguarding these languages, recognising their unique value to researchers and the communities themselves.
“In this context, the documentation and recording of minority languages, in particular, provide an important contribution to their preservation.
“However, the preservation of a language ultimately depends on the language community itself.
“Nevertheless, when a language has been documented, it becomes at least a form of heritage that can be referenced in the future,” the association said in a statement.
The association added that raw manuscripts needed to be authenticated and annotated with phonetic symbols by a validation committee composed of native speakers of the language so that a clean manuscript could be compiled for publishing purposes.
Among the key goals discussed during the workshop were the publication of Sekapan language materials, documentation of its vocabulary, incorporation of Sekapan elements into Malay and enrichment of Malay language terminology through appropriate Sekapan words and terms.
