Rather, it implies that sometimes, in some cases, having a written form helps a language to survive. I don't think the statement implies that languages need a written form to survive, in general. If you think about it, it's hard to see how humanity could have retained its power of speech for untold millennia before the invention of writing if a language needed a proper writing system to survive … I can think of at least one African language with hundreds of thousands of speakers, very few of whom are literate in their own language, but which is plainly by no means endangered. Strikes me as a pretty dubious statement. "The Indonesian ethnic minority, with a population of 60,000, was on the verge of losing its native language as it lacked a proper writing system, the institute said." The script has long struck me as being so well designed for Korean, I have quite a lot of doubts about it how well it could be made to fit another language.Īre the Tengwar enthusiasts going to take this lying down, or get on the next plane and sign up a not-yet-literate language community of their own? Wikipedia says that katakana was used for some Taiwanese languages during the period of Japanese sovereignty but doesn't address whether the Japanese might have also tried to introduce it for the various Micronesian languages when their colonial empire extended to that stretch of the Pacific. Actually, I recall it being an article about how amazingly good Hangeul would be for doing that the authors didn't seem to have any awareness that not all langages have sound systems identical to Korean. I had once read that some Korean groups were trying to get some aboriginal languages to use hangeul, but I didn't think anyone would actually do it. Maybe there's an Indonesia specialist who can tell us more… I did a Google search on Hunminjeongeum which is 訓民正音 in Chinese and found this interesting article Īnd last but not least I should thank Kevin Parks who alerted me through the Korean Studies Discussion List (I dabble in Korean, can read Hangeul but that's almost as far as it goes, language-wise). The tribe isn't named in the Yonhap report but this article fills in some of the gaps Yes, the city is Baubau/Bau-Bau The Wikipedia article has even been updated to mention the Hangeul connection! I think it's probably referring to Bau-Bau. I thought Bauer and Bauer was a bit fishy as a name for an Indonesian city. Filed by Victor Mair under Writing systems.Thanks to Michael Rank for calling this item to my attention. That's one small step for alphabet, one giant leap for the Korean people. "I hope the case will serve as a meaningful opportunity to show off the excellence of Hangeul outside of the country," he said. Lee Ho-young, who helped create the Korean textbook for the Indonesian tribe, said it was a "historical case" for the Korean alphabet to be used in preserving the traditional language of a foreign society. "In the long run, the spread of Hangeul will also help enhance Korea's economy as it will activate exchanges with societies that use the language." "It will be a meaningful case in history if the Indonesian tribe manages to keep its aboriginal language with the help of Hangeul," said Seoul National University professor and member of the institute Kim Joo-won. The Hunminjeongeum Research Institute has been trying for several years to spread the Korean alphabet to minority tribes across Asia who do not have their own writing system. Linguists here expressed hope that the case will become a stepping stone to spreading and promoting the Korean alphabet globally. The city plans to set up a Korean center next month and to work on spreading the Korean alphabet to other regions by training Korean language teachers. The book also includes a Korean fairy tale. The city of Bauer and Bauer began to teach students the Korean alphabet last month, with lessons based on textbooks created by the Korean institute.Ĭomposed of writing, speaking and reading sections, all texts in the book - explaining the tribe's history, language and culture - are written in the Korean script. The Indonesian ethnic minority, with a population of 60,000, was on the verge of losing its native language as it lacked a proper writing system, the institute said. The tribe in the city of Bauer and Bauer, located in Buton, Southeast Sulawesi, has chosen Hangeul as the official alphabet to transcribe its aboriginal language, according to the Hunminjeongeum Research Institute. 6 (Yonhap) - A minority tribe in Indonesia has chosen to use Hangeul as its official writing system, in the first case of the Korean alphabet being used by a foreign society, a scholars' association here said Thursday. In a report from the Yonhap News Agency out today under the title "Indonesian tribe picks Korean alphabet as official writing system" comes a stunning story that is sure to warm the cockles of all Hangeul devotees everywhere.
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