What About the Indigenous Languages of the Plains?: The Case of Kurukh in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

More than 30 indigenous linguistic communities live in Bangladesh. Many of these languages are at risk of endangerment as the speakers see the functionality of their mother tongues diminish gradually. The purpose of the study is to examine the linguistic scenario of Kurukh, one of the indigenous languages spoken in the north-western parts of Bangladesh, with references to some of the essential concepts in relation to language shift and vitality. The author conducted a sociolinguistic survey with five groups of adult community members and four school-going children. Four notable community members were separately interviewed on a semi-structured questionnaire. The data were thematically analysed to understand the factors at play in shaping the status of Kurukh in Bangladesh. In a context of language endangerment, the study has significant implications for the policymakers as well as the community members as it provides insights into the language dynamics and the community aspirations.

KEYWORDS:

• Language policy
• language endangerment
• language revitalization
• indigenous language
• mother tongue-based education

Disclosure statement        

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The map published in Ahmed et al. (2011) is reproduced with formal permission from SIL Bangladesh.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Open Society University Network (OSUN) through their Engaged Research Fund (2022 - 23).

Notes on contributors

Asifa Sultana

Asifa Sultana is a language researcher with research interests in children’s education and language development. She is currently working as Professor at the Department of English and Humanities, Brac University, Bangladesh. She obtained her PhD from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand where she worked on tracing the language development of Bangla-speaking children. She has won several international and national research grants as the principal and the local investigator including Leibniz Dream (funded by the European Research Council) and the Engaged Research Fund (funded by the Open Society University Network). As part of her international and interdisciplinary collaborations, she regularly publishes on her research areas in scholarly journals, and contributes in the editorial process in various capacities.