Linguist says local languages vital for development
In Malawi, it has become a trend by many parents to encourage their children to converse in English.
Even in schools nationwide, learners found speaking in vernacular languages in their campuses are punished in an effort to tame their tongues to migrate to the Queen’s language.
This is why vernacular languages are perhaps, dying a natural death.
after her presentation
Which is why Chancellor College linguist professor Edrinnie Kayambazinthu attributes the disappearing of languages to negligence of families to transmit local languages to their children as well as lack of political will to reinforce the maintenance of local languages.
In her paper titled Language Maintenance and Language Shift: The Family’s Role, Kayambazinthu presented during her inauguration speech in Zomba last Friday, she argued that most of the world’s languages are disappearing.
She noted: “Language is a basic right for any person as it embodies cultural values and philosophical insights of people’s lives.”
Kayambazinthu added that foreign languages such as English and French are swallowing local and small languages as people keenly learn the foreign languages in the pursuit of academic excellence as well as to excel at work.
“It is not erroneous to learn foreign languages, but families should make individual language policy of heritage language use, gender aspects in mixed marriages as well as parental attitude and ideologies this includes taking their children to home villages to learn their local languages,” she said.
According to Kayambazinthu, vernacular languages can be maintained if people have a strong and positive mindset to their languages, continue the transmission of language to other generations and have core values of preserving their native languages.
“Most developed countries use their local languages in conducting their duties, a development that transforms their social and economic status as people are well conversant to respond to things spoken in languages they understand better; hence, let Malawi preserve its languages as a seed for future use,” she said.
Agreeing with Kayambazinthu, one of the country’s established musicians present at the professorial inauguration ceremony,
, said vernacular languages give an image of the person and the society.
“People should desist from being wary in using their languages publicly as fear and shyness demonstrates lack of confidence and identity of the person’s cultural background that in turn tarnishes our striking cultures,” he said.
