Regional Office for Language in East Kalimantan Province held a Dissemination of Bahau Language Conservation in the Cultural Village of Sungai Bawang, Muara Badak, Kutai Kartanegara on October, 26 and 27, 2021. The activity is conducted to disseminate information to Bahau language speakers regarding the conservation studies results, namely phonology, morphology, and syntax. To confirm data validity, a recheck of conservation data results was carried out to the speakers.
Based on Agency for Language Development and Cultivation data (2018), there are 718 regional languages currently, such as Batak, Sundanese, Javanese, Benuaq, Bugis, Kutai Malay, Kenyah, etc. Bahau language is one of the regional languages among many regional languages in Indonesia.
Bahau language is one of the regional languages which is used to communicate or interact in Mahakam Ulu Regency and West Kutai Regency beside the Benuaq language, Tunjung language, and Kutai Malay language. Bahau tribe activities are always equipped with language. In the Bahau community, mother tongue or indigenous/regional language is used as the first language in communicating or interacting among the communities.
As a regional language, the Bahau language has some functions, such as (a) to support the development of Bahau culture, (b) identity symbol of Bahau community, as one of the ethnic groups in Indonesia, and (c) as a means of oral communication within the Bahau family and community.
Nowadays, the Bahau language, be alarmed, will become extinct slowly. In fact, the use of regional languages has been mixed with other languages. In addition, the Bahau language is rarely used to communicate and interact. The younger generations rarely use the Bahau language so that the number of Bahau speakers is starting to decrease. In consequence, Dissemination of Bahau Language Conservation in the Cultural Village of Sungai Bawang, Muara Badak, Kutai Kartanegara is expected to be part of the effort to preserve the Bahau language. Preservation of the Bahau language directly maintains and develops the culture of the Bahau community.
Translated by Muhammad Erwin Darma