[Kabar-indonesia] At least 100 languages in Indonesia threatened with extinction

[Joyo at aol.com]

At least 100 languages in Indonesia threatened with
extinction

JAKARTA, November 9 (AP) -- At least 100 of Indonesia's more
than 700 languages are threatened with extinction, the
government said, promising action to save the country's
linguistic diversity, Koran Tempo daily reported.

Intermarriage between tribes in central and eastern areas of
the vast archipelago is one of the main reasons why the
languages are dying, Dendy Sugono, the head of the
government's language center, was quoted as saying Friday.

Many of the tongues have never been written down, he said.

Sugono said the government had invited international
language experts to a seminar in December to discuss the
best ways to save the languages from extinction.

Indonesia is home to more than 220 million people from at
least 350 different ethnic groups.

Most people speak the national language, Indonesian, but the
country's multitude of regional tongues makes it one of the
world's most linguistically rich nations.

------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------