Language Vitality of the Sihan Community in Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

This paper discusses the language vitality of the Sihan or Sian community in Sarawak. Vitality of language refers to the ability of a language to live or grow. The language vitality of the Sihans was investigated using a field survey, observation and interviews. The output of the field survey was analysed using the nine criteria of language vitality, outlined in the UNESCO Expert Meeting in March, 2003 (Lewis 2006, 4; Benzinger et al. 2003). The nine criteria include intergenerational language transmission, absolute number of speakers, proportion of speakers within the total population, trends in existing language domains, response to new domains and media, materials for language education and literacy, language attitudes and policies, community members' attitudes toward their own language and the amount and quality of documentation (Brenzinger et al. 2003, 7–17). The data from the survey were supported by the data obtained from observation and interviews. The findings of the study reveal that the Sihan language is under threat as it does not fulfil UNESCO's nine criteria of language vitality.