Arunachal: Book on Nah Speech and Dictionary of Nah released
Outreach and Book Release Program was organised by RIWATCH at Taksing
Taksing, Nov. 30: An outreach and book release program was conducted on 26th November 2024 at Taksing, Upper Subansiri District, Arunachal Pradesh, organized by the RIWATCH Centre for mother languages (RCML) in collaboration with Centre for Endangered Languages (CFEL), AITS-Rajiv Gandhi University, Nah Welfare Society (NWS) and NGUNUK Foundation.
The program features the official release of the two books on Nah speech Community namely Ethnographic Profile of the Nah (Tagin) of Arunachal Pradesh and A Dictionary of Nah by the President of NWS Keru Chader and General Secretary of NWS, Tache Chader respectively.
The two books are outputs of the research project of CFEL-RGU titled, ‘Documentation of Endangered Languages, Oral Narratives and Cultures of the Lesser-Known Tribal Communities of Arunachal Pradesh’ supported by the North Eastern Council (NEC), Shillong, Government of India.
Also Read- After 4 days search, body of Suvendu Choudhary found in Lohit River
Coordinator of CFEL-AITS, RGU Prof. S Simon John, in his address, congratulated the native speakers of Nah language and CFEL-RGU research team for collaboratively bringing out the two books on Nah Community. He asserted that the two books are the tangible outputs of the collaborative efforts of Nah community and the CFEL research team.
Due to the dynamicity which is a characteristic feature of languages, all languages change and evolve through time. Timely documentation of every language helps the future researchers in tracing the affinity of languages belonging to its genetic affiliation.
Also Read- Meeting on 132 kV High Voltage Transmission Line Installation Held in Tawang
The Centre Head of RCML, Dr Mechek Sampar Awan, in his address, asserted that the output of this research not only helped in the literature development of the Nah community but will also facilitate in ensuring the closed affinities of the Nah language to the Tagin language in particular and the Tani language branch of Tibeto-Burman Group in general.
“The visit of the RCML team aims at the documentation of Nah language to develop Children’s Pictorial Glossary Books in Nah language and documentation of the Siju Festival of Nah community for a documentary film that would be published and produced by the RIWATCH”, he added.
Addressing the function, the Founder Director of NGUNUK Foundation, Dr Kaling Dabi assured that the foundation will extend support to the Nah community in their initiatives in promoting and preserving their endangered cultural heritage. He stressed that the native community should take a crucial role in the promotion and revitalization of their endangered languages and cultures.
Also Rea- Training-cum-demonstration on Scientific Freshwater Aquaculture held at Kanubari
In his address, the Research Officer of RCML, Dr Kombong Darang expressed gratitude to the Nah people for their warm hospitality and their cooperation to the research team. He assured that the RCML will bring out a documentary film from the documented audio-visual data of the Siju Festival and the culture of Nah.
The program was attended by Assistant Professor of AITS-RGU and Assistant Coordinator of CFEL-RGU, Dr Lisa Lomdak, the native speakers of Nah language, office bearers of Tagin Cultural society (TCS), Kojum Welfare Society (KWS), Taksing Buddhist Welfare Society and the Organizing Committee of the Siju Festival Celebration.
Also Read- Centre approves Rs 28,229 Cr for Arunachal Frontier Highway along LAC on India-China border
During the Siju festival, an extempore speech competition in Nah language was conducted on 27th November 2024 to promote and revitalize the language. Organized by the Nah Welfare Society in collaboration with the RIWATCH Centre for Mother Languages (RCML), the competition was participated by around 20 participants. The first and second prizes of the competition were won by Tatop Sare and Logu Tarba respectively.
The RCML team also conducted a field study in Taksing to document the Language and Culture of Nah to develop pictorial glossary books in Nah language. It focussed on the elicitation of textual data on Nah language and audio-visual documentation of Nah language and oral narratives for research analyses and digital archives at RIWATCH. The workshop was participated by native speakers of Nah language including the office bearers of the Nah Welfare Society.
