Pretoria - Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa, launched the department's national roadmap for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages and the historic dictionary of the endangered N|uu language.
Scholars, authors, librarians and language enthusiasts convened in great numbers at Ditsong National Museum in Pretoria with scores of translators translating the event in numerous South African and African languages.
Language book sellers and authors also brought tons of books to exhibit as speakers all emphasised the important of preserving and advancing African languages and giving their importance in an African context.
Mthethwa told the audience that they were responsive to the Unesco campaign that the decade of 2022 to 2032 should be the decade of indigenous languages.
He said they were mindful and conscious that the country and continent needed their own road maps towards the development of our languages.
“According to Unesco, the essence of this decade is aimed at ensuring indigenous peoples’ right to preserve, revitalise and promote their languages. It offers an opportunity to collaborate in the areas of policy development and to stimulate dialogues and to take essential action for the promotion of indigenous languages,” said Mthethwa.
He told the crowd that renowned author and public intellectual Ngugi wa Thiong’o had observed that, “language is more than just a means of communication but also a carrier of culture, therefore, the importance of the indigenous languages in the decolonisation of our societies means recognising indigenous languages as a carrier of culture not only as a means of communication.”
He said on the African continent, there could be no doubt that, indigenous languages were systematically devalued and marginalised while European languages were valued. Consequently, language oppression played a sinister role in the colonial project.
“The continued favouring of European languages at the expense of indigenous African languages has disrupted the cultures and ways of life of African people. For our languages are not only methods of communication, but also extensive and complex systems of knowledge that have developed over years.”
He said the government has developed progressive legislation that serves to protect and promote multilingualism, that enables the full use of 11 official languages, with a 12th language, South African Sign Language, soon to be added to this. In addition to this, the plight of endangered languages also takes centre-stage with projects in place to support their survival and development. Among these have been the N|uu, Nama, !Xun and Khwe.
Mthethwa highlighted to the audience five milestones which will assist in tracking their progress, measuring success and recognising potential bottlenecks within the project.
These are to development of a functional Terminology Register and a National Termbank; strengthening partnerships with Language Research Networks; prioritising development of sign language towards officialisation; archiving of South African Languages and streamline their roles through partnerships as government departments:
On the launch of the N|uu dictionary, he said, he was proud because it was a multilingual dictionary as the N|uu terms are also represented in the dialect of Afrikaans from the Northern Cape as well as South African English and Khoekhoegowab.
“This dictionary therefore showcases four languages of the Northern Cape. This dictionary is not only available in hard copy but has also been developed into a free app version and online dictionary portal, accessible to both local and international users.”
“We are proud to honour the efforts of Ouma Katrina Esau, without whose efforts this dictionary would not have been possible.”
Ouma Katrina Esau, the last living speaker of the language since her brother passed-on, told Pretoria News that she was very proud to have put it together and was proud to see so many people from various parts of South African and Africa come together to engage on the importance of preserve all Africa language.
Pretoria News