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Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia

This article demonstrates the potential of using ethnotaxonomy and nomenclature to assess the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge at the ecosystem level. We collaborated with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia, applying a mixed methodology approach that relies on free...

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Main Authors: Hidayat, Syafitri, Abdul Ghani, Bibi Aminah, Giridharan, Beena, Hassan, Mohd Zafri, Franco, F. Merlin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Society of Ethnobiology 2018
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/74382/1/Using%20ethnotaxonomy%20to%20assess%20traditional%20knowledge%20and%20language%20vitality.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/74382/
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spelling my.upm.eprints.743822020-03-26T06:47:27Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/74382/ Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia Hidayat, Syafitri Abdul Ghani, Bibi Aminah Giridharan, Beena Hassan, Mohd Zafri Franco, F. Merlin This article demonstrates the potential of using ethnotaxonomy and nomenclature to assess the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge at the ecosystem level. We collaborated with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia, applying a mixed methodology approach that relies on free-listing to a large extent. We applied the Traditional Knowledge and Language Vitality (TraLaVi) index to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality against five major parameters, specifically: language priority, retrieval of information, knowledge erosion, lexical recognition, and social support for exchange of traditional knowledge. The results show that with a TraLaVi score of 0.84, the Vaie language can be considered “safe”. Individuals practicing the traditional occupation of fishing fared better (mean=0.90) than those of the non-fishermen group (mean=0.77). However, when the language vitality was assessed using the Language Vitality and Endangerment assessment tool of UNESCO, the results indicate that the Vaie language could potentially be in the “unsafe” zone, highlighting the differences between the ecosystem based approach of TraLaVi and the macro-approach of UNESCO. However, these approaches can be applied in a complementary manner to generate a more accurate portrayal of the language vitality scenario. Society of Ethnobiology 2018 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/74382/1/Using%20ethnotaxonomy%20to%20assess%20traditional%20knowledge%20and%20language%20vitality.pdf Hidayat, Syafitri and Abdul Ghani, Bibi Aminah and Giridharan, Beena and Hassan, Mohd Zafri and Franco, F. Merlin (2018) Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia. Ethnobiology Letters, 9 (2). 33 - 47. ISSN 2159-8126 10.14237/ebl.9.2.2018.740
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description This article demonstrates the potential of using ethnotaxonomy and nomenclature to assess the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge at the ecosystem level. We collaborated with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia, applying a mixed methodology approach that relies on free-listing to a large extent. We applied the Traditional Knowledge and Language Vitality (TraLaVi) index to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality against five major parameters, specifically: language priority, retrieval of information, knowledge erosion, lexical recognition, and social support for exchange of traditional knowledge. The results show that with a TraLaVi score of 0.84, the Vaie language can be considered “safe”. Individuals practicing the traditional occupation of fishing fared better (mean=0.90) than those of the non-fishermen group (mean=0.77). However, when the language vitality was assessed using the Language Vitality and Endangerment assessment tool of UNESCO, the results indicate that the Vaie language could potentially be in the “unsafe” zone, highlighting the differences between the ecosystem based approach of TraLaVi and the macro-approach of UNESCO. However, these approaches can be applied in a complementary manner to generate a more accurate portrayal of the language vitality scenario.
format Article
author Hidayat, Syafitri
Abdul Ghani, Bibi Aminah
Giridharan, Beena
Hassan, Mohd Zafri
Franco, F. Merlin
spellingShingle Hidayat, Syafitri
Abdul Ghani, Bibi Aminah
Giridharan, Beena
Hassan, Mohd Zafri
Franco, F. Merlin
Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia
author_facet Hidayat, Syafitri
Abdul Ghani, Bibi Aminah
Giridharan, Beena
Hassan, Mohd Zafri
Franco, F. Merlin
author_sort Hidayat, Syafitri
title Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_short Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_full Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_fullStr Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the Vaie people of Sarawak, Malaysia
title_sort using ethnotaxonomy to assess traditional knowledge and language vitality: a case study with the vaie people of sarawak, malaysia
publisher Society of Ethnobiology
publishDate 2018
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/74382/1/Using%20ethnotaxonomy%20to%20assess%20traditional%20knowledge%20and%20language%20vitality.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/74382/
_version_ 1665896019327451136
score 13.211869

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