DBP BACKS SARAWAK'S CALL TO MAKE PALBORNEO PERIODIC MEETING
KOTA SAMARAHAN, Oct 26 (Bernama) -- Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) supports Sarawak's recommendation to make the Borneo International Conference on Lexicology and Lexicography (PALBORNEO) a periodic meeting.
DBP director-general Hazami Jahari said the recommendation was made by Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Open yesterday.
"I support the recommendation Abang Johari made in his speech yesterday in wanting PALBORNEO to become a periodic meeting,” he said at the closing of the PALBORNEO 2023 at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Campus here today.
Hazami said the publication of the Melayu Sarawak-Melayu Dewan dictionary yesterday was also a success and history for DBP in enriching the treasure of research documentation of ethnic languages in the country.
"Perhaps, it could also be considered for PALBORNEO to be included as an activity in the collaboration of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia Language Council (MABBIM),” he said.
He said the diversity of indigenous languages found on the island of Borneo was very interesting and should be used and disseminated in community life to enrich and empower the languages.
"The words jerayawara, ruai, randau, merarau, for example, are words that come from ethnic languages in Sabah and Sarawak that have now become part of the Malay vocabulary and their use is growing," he said.
According to him, the theme of the conference, which is “Pelestarian Bahasa Peribumi Borneo” (Preservation of the Borneo Indigenous Languages), is part of DBP's efforts to document the indigenous languages.
He said the efforts were implemented through, among others, language research and the compilation of dictionaries so that ethnic languages in Sabah and Sarawak could continue to be maintained.
-- BERNAMA
