ALSphere Foundation
Dr. Bishakha Sarma in conversation with Prof. Kavita Rastogi
Linguist Prof. Kavita Rastogi builds her royal path for the revitalisation of Endangered and Lesser known languages as she believes, “If you want to do something significant, build your path”.
Indigenous languages are a store-house of variegated traditional knowledge system. The preservation and protection of mother tongue languages has been an important step towards the conservation of bio-diversity. Many mother tongue languages in our country are unwritten.
The district wise linguistic scenario of a state is complicated compared to the one listed in the census reports. One name or label of a particular community is known to have various sub-tribes. Of them, it is possible that one or two sub-tribes may have different cultures and varying degrees of intelligibility. Some section of the population of a sub-tribe identifies themselves under the label of a ‘so-called’ main tribe. Hence marginalisation and endangerment affects many linguistic communities across our country. Linguists are contributing towards the revitalization of indigenous languages. The founder of the Society for Endangered and lesser Known Languages, Prof. Kavita Rastogi speaks to us on the need for awareness on the part of the native speakers as well as proper training of the researchers and language activists required in order to achieve the desired goal – Save our mother tongues!
About the Linguist Prof. Kavita Rastogi
Prof Kavita Rastogi, Professor of Linguistics in the department of Linguistics, University of Lucknow started her NGO Society for Endangered and Lesser-Known Languages that was formally registered in 2015. The Society works for the protection and preservation of marginalised and weaker languages. She has published extensively in the areas of Structural Linguistics, General Linguistics, Contrastive Linguistics and Language Documentation and Revitalization. She has prepared a Dictionary of the technical terms of Linguistics in Hindi Language. She has seven books to her credit. She is a Life member of many societies and has been awarded 6th H.P. Bhargava Memorial Professional Involvement Award 1999. She had been a member of Editorial board of the Journal ‘Indian Journal of Languages and Literature’, Nagpur and Aligarh Journal of Linguistics. She was also a member of the Executive Committee of Linguistic Society of India. Presently she is nominated as a member of Board of Studies (Linguistics) by the Vice Chancellor of NEHU, Shillong. She has also been appointed as an Expert Consultant member of Centre for Endangered Languages, Tezpur University.
About Dr. Bishakha Sarma
Dr. Bishakha Das (Sarma), a doctorate in Linguistics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, specializes in the documentation of Endangered and Lesser-known languages. She participates in several national and international seminars of languages and Linguistics, and has a number of research publications to her credit. Presently, she is working on a project in Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore for the orthography development of North East Indian Languages.
Here’s the detailed interview of the two linguists:
Bishakha Sarma: After your schooling, how did you stream your career in the initial years until graduation? What made you choose Linguistics for an academic career?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: I was always interested in humanities, and during my graduation, my favorite subjects were Psychology and Sanskrit. I only got interested in the subject when I met Dr. R. K. Rastogi, who used to teach Linguistics at the University of Lucknow. I wanted to do my master’s in Psychology but he persuaded me to study Linguistics. So, it is the other way around, instead of me choosing Linguistics, Linguistics chose me. When I secured first position in post-graduation, then I thought to myself “I understand this subject now, I can pursue Ph.D. in this subject.”
Bishakha Sarma: Which domain of Linguistics had particularly intrigued you? What was your first scientific study on a language?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: My basic training was in Structural Linguistics and I did my doctoral research on the origin and development of Structural Linguistics. Till date, I prefer using descriptive/structural models for writing grammar for lesser-known languages. I have prepared grammar for two oral endangered languages – Raji and Jad.
Bishakha Sarma : What is your major contribution to Indian languages?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: Writing grammar, compiling dictionaries, developing orthography systems, preparing pedagogical material, and chalking out revitalization programs for endangered languages of India, are some of the areas I have contributed to.
Bishakha Sarma: What made you initiate Society for Endangered and Lesser- known languages? Would you elaborate on how SEL provides aid to the research scholars in terms of training and bringing forth their challenges on linguistic research on lesser known and endangered languages?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: While working on the preservation and documentation of lesser-known languages, I constantly felt the need for a platform where researchers working on endangered languages could discuss their problems, share their work, and learn about the new technology. As a result, I organized the first Endangered and Lesser-Known Languages Conference (ELKL) at the University of Lucknow in 2012. During this conference, I discussed the idea of starting an NGO with Prof. Anvita Abbi who encouraged me and gave several suggestions. To implement this idea, I started talking to like-minded people and gradually met a group of linguists who were ready to support the idea. This is how the Society for Endangered and Lesser-known languages (SEL) was formed in 2012 and formally got registered in March 2015.
In my view, the biggest impediments in the process of preservation are the lack of awareness about the importance of the protection of endangered languages, the lack of proper training and technical knowledge of the research personnel involved, and the lack of involvement of the native communities in the process. It is these needs and gaps that SEL seeks to address.
To strengthen the language documentation and preservation skills of researchers, the society regularly organizes training, workshops, and lectures. For the preservation of threatened and poorly documented languages, SEL is running a Swadesh Word List Project and has already collected lexical data in more than 25 languages that would soon be uploaded on its website. For the maintenance and revitalization of endangered and lesser-known-language varieties, preparation and publication of pedagogical material are going on. SEL has already published four storybooks, including an alphabet reader in the Raji language. These books have been distributed free of cost among native speakers.
Every year a small project grant is given to a scholar who wants to work with indigenous language communities. SEL also offers one free Life-membership for a native speaker of any endangered or lesser-known languages cum student of linguistics. The Society also has a biannual, bilingual peer-reviewed e-journal, Vaak Manthan, where researchers and senior scholars working in this field can publish their work. I am also glad to share that the ELKL Conference series has now become a yearly event organized by different institutes across the country.
Bishakha Sarma: Is the journal “Vaak Manthan” another step towards the Preservation of Indigenous Languages? How is it different from other linguistic journals?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: In Vaak Manthan, we try to publish the work and research outputs related to endangered and lesser-known languages only. We understand that apart from linguists many native speakers and language activists are deeply involved in the preservation of indigenous languages. To give them a platform to publish their writings, Vaak Manthan has a dedicated section for them.
Bishakha Sarma: I feel inspired that SEL provided me with a forum to present my major research “Tai Khamti: Representing the fifth language family of India”, and also invited me for a session on “Perception of Tones”. Would you elaborate on how SEL provides aid to the research scholars in terms of training and bringing forth their challenges on linguistic research on lesser known and endangered languages?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: As mentioned earlier, the objective of SEL is to support and encourage scholars like you who are selflessly working for endangered and lesser-known languages at the ground level. We organize hands-on training and workshops for our members regularly and on demand also. For example, some of our native speakers from Himachal Pradesh were eager to learn IPA, so we conducted training for them. Similarly, we also requested you to conduct a session on Tones as several SEL members were asking for it.
Bishakha Sarma: It is difficult to thrive as an Independent Researcher in India. What is your message to them?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: In my view, Independent Researchers in the field of endangered languages are the real protagonists. Inclination, proper training, and funding are the three basic requirements for any research work. Though proclivity is always present in researchers they have to struggle with the other two. There are several bodies like the Endangered Languages Documentation Project (ELDP), Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL), and Endangered Language Foundation (ELF), etc. which provide training as well as funding to independent researchers for documentation and revitalization work.
Bishakha Sarma: Do you think Linguistics should be included at an undergraduate level?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: It is already being taught at the undergraduate level in several Indian Universities. I think it should be included at the high school and junior high school levels. The awareness of how a language works in various situations of the society, how as a child one acquires language, how language works in the field of computers etc. provide the students the criteria for constructing accurately communicative language. Studying linguistics gives them a foundation for examining the rules and usages.
Bishakha Sarma: Do you think that field Linguists in India are decreasing with the need for teaching Communicative English in India?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: I do not think so Bishakha. Teaching Communicative English is altogether a different area which is very popular in our country due to various reasons. But for the last ten years, I have seen that more and more students of linguistics have become interested in the field of language documentation, preservation, and archiving.
Bishakha Sarma: How do you see SEL 10 years down the road?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: Looking back at the different stages of my life, I can say I have never planned things long-term though my short-term goals for SEL include increased association with and support for independent researchers working on endangered languages from across the developing world; comprehensive training modules that can help train research personnel and native speakers on different aspects of language documentation and preservation/revitalization and creating an expansive database of all aspects of endangered languages.
Bishakha Sarma: What is your greatest achievement in life?
Prof Kavita Rastogi: I have never judged my life in terms of achievements and failures. My motto has been, “If you want to do something significant, build your path. Do not compare with others and keep doing it and leave rest on God.”
