Greg Antono (MA): "Language revitalisation in Singapore: The case of Kristang (Melaka Creole Portuguese)."
Kristang, also known as Melaka Creole Portuguese, is the critically endangered heritage language of the Portuguese-Eurasian community in Singapore and the greater Malayan region. Spoken by fewer than 100 speakers in Singapore, there was little documentation, nor even awareness of this Portuguese-Malay creole up until recently. In 2016, Kodrah Kristang (‘Awaken, Kristang’), a community-based non-profit, multicultural and intergenerational initiative was launched to revitalise this language. Through their classes and other activities, this youth-led initiative has since seen considerable success in generating public interest in the language. In this presentation, I first provide an overview of this creole language's features and its origins; and address Singapore’s sociolinguistic situation that has led to its current status. Drawing from Wong (2019)'s article on Kodrah Kristang's development, I will then discuss some aspects of Kodrah Kristang’s grassroots efforts, and the challenges they face in the revitalisation of this language in the highly urbanised context of Singapore.
1:15 PM - 2:45 PM in SS 560A: Language Variation and Change Research Group
Thesis proposal of Robert Prazeres (Ph.D.): "Comparative sociolinguistic study of nominal genitives across Arabic varieties."
Thesis proposal of Robert Prazeres (Ph.D.): "Comparative sociolinguistic study of nominal genitives across Arabic varieties."
No comments:
Post a Comment