Dayak dialect faces extinction

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)