Resource persons and participants of the national conference
at Nagaland University, Kohima campus, on February 13.
- DIMAPUR — Linguistics
department of Nagaland University, in collaboration with Central Institute of
Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore, conducted a two-day national conference on
"India as a linguistic area: Special reference to northeastern
languages" on February 13 and 14.
- An update from the university stated that the conference was
aimed at exploring the linguistic diversity and shared features of Indian languages
with focus on those from the northeastern region.
- Delivering the welcome address at the inaugural programme on
February 13, Prof. Pangersenla Walling, head of Linguistics department,
highlighted the shared linguistic features across Indian languages despite
their division into six language families and emphasised the concept of India
as a linguistic area.
- In his opening remarks, Prof. GT Thong, pro vice chancellor
of Nagaland University, Kohima campus, addressed the vast multilingual society
of India. He attributed the multilingualism to evolving language communities
and sociolinguistic transformations over the centuries.
- Prof. Thong spoke about the congregation and integration of
diverse linguistic groups through migration and cultural exchanges, leading to
the shared linguistic features seen today.
- Prof. Shailendra Mohan, director of CIIL, Mysore, spoke on
the current language situation in India, wherein he encouraged further research
on Indian languages by emphasising the need to document and study the
linguistic diversity of the country.
- Meanwhile, Meiraba Takhellambam, assistant professor at
Manipur University, presented the notion of language endangerment, focusing on
the languages in Sikkim. He presented data from the 1951 census, stressing that
only major languages are represented while minor languages are often ignored.
- He highlighted the issue of Nepali having a high percentage
of speakers, resulting in the grouping of minor languages under Nepali, thus
making it a major language.
