Language Death

Bahasa Sug, or Tausug is slipping into death according to UNESCO. This is still fresh in my mind as this was one of the issues in our online discussion in the subject Advanced Grammar of Philippine Languages last semester under Dr. Arnel Francis Morales.

Yes, Miroslav Cerny of Czech Republic is right in her study entitled Language Death versus Language Survival : A Global Perspective that Languages have always died off and it has been estimated that approximately one half of the 6,000 languages spoken in the world today are going to disappear in the course of the 21st century. In relation to this horrifying data, it has often been argued that language extinction must be viewed as a terrible loss, and language renewal is thus beneficial and worth trying. But for the Bahasa Sug that is slipping into death, I beg to disagree.

There are some reasons why a language is slipping into death as discussed in the article I have read. One is colonization and this is not observed among the speakers of Tausug language. The Tausugs were not colonized by the Spaniards, Japanese and even the Americans, that is why they are known as brave fighters. They are still enjoying their language, and the way of life, which is Islam. Second is natural disasters, and as far as my memory is concerned, the Tausugs seldom experience natural disasters especially in Jolo, Sulu, their homeland. The place is still intact, and the Tausugs are still embracing the beauty of the place. In our place in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, the young people are still knowledgeable of the language. Since they were born, they were exposed to the language, and not to English or Cebuano because in the mindset of the Tausugs, we are Tausugs, we are Muslims, so we must use our own language, and not the language of the Kafir ( Christians). In church and madrasah (Arabic school), Tausug is used.

It is just funny to note that even Cebuanos in our place know how to speak Bahasa Sug. Every time they go to our store, the Cebuanos speak in Tausug, and not in Cebuano. This is a manifestation that the Tausug is a living language.

In our community, you often hear Tausug, young and old, singing using the Tausug language. This is clearly heard during special occasion such as wedding, and Hariraya. Actually, it is difficult to claim that the language is dying since Tausug songs and movies are now readily available in youtube. Young generation can simply surf and enjoy the Tausug songs specially songs such as lugu, langan-langan, and many others.

The author of the article mentioned that in order for a language to be preserved, there must be proper documentation, and I am happy to say that we have a Tausug dictionary published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and there are few linguists who are studying the language. As a Tausug, it is my duty to keep my language alive, that is why my researches deal on Tausug such as Tausug syntax, and Tausug legends.

I just do not know why UNESCO claimed that, and even my classmate who posted that intriguing statement said that she just came across the finding. I then realized that the fate of one’s language depends on its speakers.