Poging GOUD - Vrij

As assimilation gnaws at Arunachal's regional languages, students fight to keep culture alive

Hindustan Times Pune

|

February 14, 2025

Mingkeng Lego is crouched over a laptop, a pen in hand and a scattering of books and diaries by his side. The spines of hardbacks and paperbacks are worn, the pages littered with annotations. The hills outside the room are visible through the window – his room is nestled in the lush expanses of Roing in Arunachal Pradesh. The 21-year-old is poring over each volume, carefully translating to English the words from Tani – a family of dialects that shares its name with an umbrella term for the state's five major tribes.

- Damien Lepcha

ITANAGAR: Mingkeng Lego is crouched over a laptop, a pen in hand and a scattering of books and diaries by his side. The spines of hardbacks and paperbacks are worn, the pages littered with annotations. The hills outside the room are visible through the window – his room is nestled in the lush expanses of Roing in Arunachal Pradesh. The 21-year-old is poring over each volume, carefully translating to English the words from Tani – a family of dialects that shares its name with an umbrella term for the state's five major tribes.

Lego and 33 others, as members of the Tani Language Foundation (TLF), are working overtime and against a raft of challenges to keep the centuries-old languages from flickering away.

The foundation started off as a clutch of eager college students on a private WhatsApp group in early 2024. Since then, it has evolved into a larger collective, with clearly a defined goal – keeping Tani languages from dying out.

"Our efforts include reviving the old unified Tani language, developing a script and crafting lessons to make learning accessible. We want to ensure this beautiful language continues to thrive," says Takar Milli, an executive member of TLF.

Around 631,000 Tani people speak a number of Tani dialects, including Nyishi, Mising and Galo.

For years now, Arunachal Pradesh has pushed for deeper connectivity, integration and assimilation with the rest of the country. With higher education options and jobs limited, people of India's northeasternmost state, which shares a large border with China, have looked beyond the province. But while this is welcome, a fallout of greater globalization and integration is that they have gnawed away at Arunachal Pradesh's local languages, most of which are largely understudied, experts said.

MEER VERHALEN VAN Hindustan Times Pune

Hindustan Times Pune

Brics attack on dollar: Trump

US President Donald Trump has called the Brics grouping an “attack” on the US dollar, claiming that he threatened nations seeking to join the bloc with tariffs following which “everybody dropped out”, PTI reported.

time to read

1 min

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

Unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in Sept

India’s headline unemployment rate increased to 5.3% in September, the highest since June, according to Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday.

time to read

1 min

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

Hindustan Times Pune

India’s exports cross $400 bn in HI FY26 despite headwinds

Merchandise exports grew 6.75% in Sept, while imports surged 16.6%, widening the deficit to $32.15 bn

time to read

3 mins

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

Sanjay’s will prima facie valid: Priya in HC

{ INHERITANCE BATTLE OVER 30,000 CRORE ESTATE

time to read

2 mins

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

TRUMP APPROVES COVERT CIA ACTION IN VENEZUELA

WASHINGTON: The administration of US President Donald Trump has secretly authorised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert action in Venezuela, the New York Times reported citing US officials aware of the matter.

time to read

1 min

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

AXIS BANK MISSES Q2 ESTIMATES AMID FALL IN TRADING INCOME

Private lender Axis Bank reported a bigger-than-expected drop in second-quarter profit on ‘Wednesday, dragged by a fall in trading income at a time when the bank is still reeling from an earlier increase in bad loan provisions.

time to read

1 min

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

MORE THAN JUST LIGHTS: WHY DIWALI FEELS SO GOOD

Have you noticed yourself feeling lighter, happier, or more excited these days?

time to read

1 min

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

Drew Struzan, artist behind posters of ET, Star Wars, dies at 78

PARIS: Hollywood illustrator Drew Struzan, the man behind legendary film posters for hit films such as “ET”, “Star Wars’ and “Indiana Jones” has died at the age of 78, prompting a flood of tributes.

time to read

1 min

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

Buyers embrace lower purity as gold soars

With gold prices hitting record highs, traditional 22and 24-karat jewellery is fast slipping out of reach for many buyers.

time to read

2 mins

October 16, 2025

Hindustan Times Pune

Pankaj Dheer dies after prolonged cancer battle, industry pays tribute

Veteran actor Pankaj Dheer died on October 15 after a prolonged battle with cancer at the age of 68. His cremation was held yesterday in Mumbai.

time to read

1 min

October 16, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size