Rajiv Gandhi University Vice Chancellor Prof Saket Kushwaha on Wednesday stressed the preservation of endangered languages.
The VC of Rajiv Gandhi University at Rono Hills, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, interacted with a team of Meyor speakers from Walong and Kibithoo circle of Anjaw district in Arunachal Pradesh.
According to a UNESCO report of 2009, Meyor is one of the most endangered languages of Arunachal Pradesh.
A workshop was organised on ‘Meyor language documentation’ by the Centre for Endangered Languages (CFEL) as a part of its ongoing research on the Meyor community.
The workshop was held at the Arunachal Institute of Tribal Studies in Rajiv Gandhi University on Wednesday.
The Meyor speakers participated in the workshop which aims at bringing the native speakers to the university and provide a common platform to interact with the students and scholars and also to carry out the documentation process.
University Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Amitava Mitra and registrar Prof Tomo Riba, CFEL coordinator Prof S. Simon John were also were also present in the introductory session.
The workshop is in continuation to the two previous fieldworks carried out on the Meyor community by the CFEL research team during the month of August, 2017 and February 2018.
The CFEL is a University Grant Commission (UGC) sponsored research cell that is working since 2016.
It is a multidisciplinary centre that constitutes a team that comprises scholars from anthropology, folklore, linguistic, tribal studies and mass communication.
The research centre focuses on field survey, documentation, and analysis of critically endangered languages of Arunachal Pradesh.
It studies the speech communities in their socio-cultural contexts as well.