Dayak dialect faces extinction

PALANGKA RAYA, Central Kalimantan: The Dayak dialect, the mother tongue of the province's natives, is facing extinction because youths are ashamed to use it, a scholar said yesterday.

T.H. Pasaribu said the Dayak dialect is increasingly being replaced by the Banjar dialect, the language medium for business activities between ethnic groups in Kalimantan.

Pasaribu did not say why young Dayakese were ashamed of their dialect but it is understood that Dayakese, especially those living in the hinterland, are stereotyped as "backward".

"If the current trend continues, the dialect will become extinct in the foreseeable future," said the expert on Dayak culture from Palangka Raya University.

He added that the decline of the Dayak dialect has been markedly noticeable over the past four years, since the Dayak tribe was no longer isolated from the outside world, Antara reported. (pan)