Shillong, Sep 20: A push to preserve the endangered Koch language brought linguists and native speakers together at a two-day workshop held at Ghasura Gaon in South West Garo Hills on September 19-20.
Funded by the Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL), the workshop on ‘Documentation and Archiving of Koch Language’ was organised by project director Prangshu Manjul in collaboration with Koch Krorang Mathop (Koch Literature Society), Meghalaya, led by its president Nirmal Koch.
The workshop focused on training participants in systematic methods to document and archive their mother tongue, with native Koch speakers from different age groups taking part.
Resource persons included Dr Palash Kumar Nath, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Gauhati University, who has been working on endangered languages, Dr Monali Longmailai, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Assam University, Silchar, specialising in Tibeto-Burman languages and language typology, and Dr Krishna Boro, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Gauhati University, specialising in language description and documentation. Koch Krorang Mathop advisor Upendra Hari Koch also participated in the initiative.
The organisers said the initiative was aimed at strengthening grassroots efforts for revitalisation of the Koch language. All participants were awarded certificates at the conclusion of the workshop.
