One man is trying to save a language in Bangladesh with only six native speakers
Government support is needed to save the Renmingtca language
Originally published on Global Voices
Singra Mro with students. He has started the Renmingtca Language Learning Program to save the endangered language. Image credit: Yangan Mro. Used with permission.
Millions of Bangladeshis will observe the International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2024, with 98 percent of them being speakers of the predominant language, Bangla. According to anthropological studies and Indigenous sources within Bangladesh, there are approximately 5 million people belonging to 48 Indigenous and ethnic groups who speak over 41 minority languages. Regrettably, between 12 to 18 of these languages are on the verge of extinction.
Among these endangered languages is “Rengmitca,” which is spoken in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. In 1999, David A. Peterson, a professor at Dortmund College in the United States, visited Bangladesh to study indigenous languages and, in 2009, documented and categorized Rengmitca as a Khomic language belonging to the Kuki-Chin family. The language is distinct but closely related to the nearby languages Khumi and Mro.
Presently, only six people, all aged over 60, can speak this language well. If they die, the language and culture will be lost in Bangladesh.
Why is this language dying?
In the 17th century, a small group of Rengmitca speakers migrated to Bandarban in the Chittagong Hill Tracts alongside the Khumis from the Arakan region on the West coast of Myanmar. Initially, they settled in separate neighborhoods near the local Mro community, where they practiced their culture and language. However, throughout the 20th century, the Rengmitca community experienced a decline in population due to epidemics and other pressures. As their numbers dwindled, they integrated into the Mro community, engaging in intermarriage and gradually adopting the Mro language. Consequently, they began to forget their mother tongue.
In 2015, linguist Peterson announced in a press conference in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, that there are only 30 people remaining who can speak the Rengmitca language. All of them were over the age of 50, and he feared that the language could face extinction with their passing if younger generations failed to learn it. Recent reports from 2023 indicate that only six speakers of Rengmitca are scattered across various sub-districts of the Bandarban district in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, comprising five men and one woman. Who will speak this language after them?
A glimmer of hope
Singra Mro, a young man from the community, has stepped up to save the language. He started a Rengmitca language learning program to grow and preserve a language that has been ignored by its own communities. Since December 2023, this program has been actively engaging children, teenagers, and adults within the Mro community.
Global Voices Bangla reached out via to Singra Mro and Yangan Mro, a writer and researcher who authored a dictionary on the Rengmitca language. The interview was conducted via email.
Global Voices Bangla (GV Bangla): Can you share some insights into the learning program aiming to save the language of your ancestors? What motivated you to undertake this step?
Singra Mro (SM): Since childhood, I have been aware of our ancestral tongue — Rengmitca. However, in reality, we communicate in other languages. I felt bad neglecting our own mother tongue; it felt like a betrayal. Moreover, my father often lamented, ‘With my passing, our mother tongue will vanish, left with no one to uphold it.’ Witnessing my father's remorse deeply affected me. After seeking guidance from my grandfather, Yangan, I started the Rengmitca language class last December with my own money and efforts.
No school facility is available for the language learning program; sessions are conducted at Singra Mro's house. Image credit: Yangan Mro. Used with permission.
GV Bangla: How has the response been to your initiative? What challenges did you face?
(SM): Initially, only 15 people turned up, but gradually, more students joined. Balancing agricultural work during the day, I conduct the classes in the evenings, typically from 7 pm to 9 pm, sometimes extending until 10 pm. Fortunately, both male and female students participate in the classes with enthusiasm. Not only Rengmitca youths but also those from neighboring communities like Mro attend.
Our primary concern is the lack of educational materials. After exhausting the resources available, particularly the dictionary authored by my grandfather, Yangan, I worry about the future availability of learning materials.
GV Bangla: Have you received any support from the government? The International Mother Language Institute researches and preserves various languages across Bangladesh. Have you approached them?
(SM): We urge the government to take measures to preserve our mother tongue. Giving access to educational infrastructure, such as providing books and organizing classes in schools, would greatly enhance our chances. Taking classes in a school setting would encourage more participation from youths. Additionally, considering our family's financial constraints, receiving an honorarium would enable me to teach with greater enthusiasm and without financial worries.
We have yet to receive any assistance or cooperation from the government.
Yangan’s journey
Yangan Mro worked as a research assistant to linguist David A. K. Peterson during his research in Bangladesh. Following Peterson's departure in 2015, Yangan continued the linguistic research. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he lost contact with the Rengmitca speakers. Upon revisiting their area in 2021, he discovered that only six individuals remained alive.
When questioned about the factors contributing to the decay of the Rengmitca language, Yangan Mro informed Global Voices Bangla:
One significant factor leading to the this state of the Rengmitca language is that they do not live in one place. In some villages, only seven out of twenty-five families speak Rengmitca, and in certain areas, it's just one family. As a result, they struggle to preserve their native tongue while coexisting with members of other communities, as they are compelled to adopt the majority language.
In fact, the total population of the Rengmitca ethnic group in Bangladesh likely does not exceed two or three thousand individuals.
Moreover, their children are hesitant to speak Rengmitca, fearing the resentment of those who predominantly speak other languages within the village. Such apprehensions hold them from using their mother tongue, which has lead to the decline of native speakers across generations.
Yangan Mro has published the first dictionary in the Rengmitca language named Mitca Takhak. It contains 3400 entries. Photo courtesy of Yangan Mro. Used with permission.
Yangan Mro, deeply troubled by the imminent disappearance of the language, intensified his efforts to engage with the community. In 2023, he authored the only published Rengmitca dictionary titled “Mitca Takhak,” comprising 3,400 entries. Notably, the Rengmitca language lacks its own script; hence, Yangan utilized both the Mro and Bengali alphabets for the dictionary.
Singra Mro has initiated the Rengmitca language education program primarily based on this dictionary.
When asked about the necessary steps to preserve the Rengmitca language, Yangan told Global Voices Bangla:
We will not be able to preserve a language independently by only compiling dictionaries, publishing books, or organizing classes in our native language. For that, the help of the government is definitely needed.
Collaboration with the remaining Rengmitca language speakers is essential; without their participation, the preservation efforts will falter. Providing them with dictionaries, grammar guides, and educational opportunities, as well as the opportunity to live in one place so that they can speak to each other in their mother tongue, is imperative.
Also, raising awareness among their children about the significance of their mother tongue is very important. Publishing books in the native language and establishing learning resources are also pivotal steps. Despite the challenges, I remain hopeful that we can salvage the Rengmitca language to some extent.
The survival of any community depends on acquiring knowledge through language and passing it on to others. It is imperative for the government to actively support and advance the efforts spearheaded by Singra Mro and Yangan Mro to safeguard the Rengmitca language.