Unesco International Mother Tongue Day observed by Kaani community – Tamil Nadu

West Ghats near Kanyakumari in the Tamil Nadu – Kerala border region
Photo courtesy Davidson Sargunam >>

Kanyakumari: Calling for the preservation of Kaani dialect by all means, Sahadevan Kaani, a clan leader rued that the dialect is fast vanishing and the present generation is not aware of it due to non-usage in educational institutions and public discourses. […]

Environmental educator from tribal foundation, S S Davidson, who is documenting the Kaani dialect, said that the mother tongue of the tribe is not used in schools, but two other languages like Tamil and English are forced upon them. They speak an admixture of Tamil and Malayalam, called Kaani Pasha or Malam Pasha. […]

Full report: Times of India, Madurai, 23 February 2018

Kanyakumari: Calling for the preservation of Kaani dialect by all means, Sahadevan Kaani, a clan leader rued that the dialect is fast vanishing and the present generation is not aware of it due to non-usage in educational institutions and public discourses.
He was speaking during the International Mother Tongue Day, which was observed by the forest dwelling Kaani indigenous people at Thatchamalai tribal settlement at Pechipaarai in Kanyakumari district on February 21.
Sahadevan Kaani said that the shift in lifestyle with latest communication tools also had made immense metamorphism in the language that many words are not in usage among the indigenous communities.
He said that the language with its natural components should be preserved by all means.
Environmental educator from tribal foundation, S S Davidson, who is documenting the Kaani dialect, said that the mother tongue of the tribe is not used in schools, but two other languages like Tamil and English are forced upon them. They speak an admixture of Tamil and Malayalam, called Kaani Pasha or Malam Pasha.
He said that as per UN statistics, at least 43% of the estimated 6,000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.
International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, he said.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/vanishing-kaani-dialect-needs-to-be-preserved/articleshow/63035668.cms
Accessed: 25 February 2018

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