FOUND IN TRANSLATION! PROTECTING THE 'VOICE' OF TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

CELK to release a primer for three tribal languages — Irula, Muduga and Kurumba — to aid children's education

- ASWIN ASOK KUMAR @T'Puram

HE same word — or minor variations of it — can hold different meanings for different people. The word 'kara' can conjure up images of 'land' in the minds of a Malayali. But imagine speaking the same word to a person from the Irula community, for whom the term 'karae' means 'water'. The variance becomes pronounced when students are made to learn words that convey another meaning in their native tongue.

To combat this issue and support the primary education of tribal children, the Centre for Endangered Languages of Kerala (CELK), under the University of Kerala, is set to release a primer for three tribal languages — Irula, Muduga, and Kurumba. CELK plans to launch the elementary book— the result of close to three years of tedious effort — this month. "The loss of a language means the loss of a culture," said CELK co-ordinator S Prema. She said the primer will serve as a reference book for primary students. Divided into sections such as relations, animals, etc., each word is listed in its Irula, Muduga, Kurumba, Malayalam, Tamil and English versions, along with corresponding images.