Ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge

Biodiversity rich regions of the world are also known to harbour rich ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversities. Traditional Knowledge (TK) of indigenous communities could be one reason behind this factor as it facilitates ecosystem management and agriculture. TK is dependent on languages, without...

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Main Authors: Franco, F., Hidayati, Syafitri, Ghani, B., Ranaivo-Malancon, B.
Format: Journal Article
Published: National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4101
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author Franco, F.
Hidayati, Syafitri
Ghani, B.
Ranaivo-Malancon, B.
author_facet Franco, F.
Hidayati, Syafitri
Ghani, B.
Ranaivo-Malancon, B.
author_sort Franco, F.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Biodiversity rich regions of the world are also known to harbour rich ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversities. Traditional Knowledge (TK) of indigenous communities could be one reason behind this factor as it facilitates ecosystem management and agriculture. TK is dependent on languages, without which, its transmission and accumulation is impossible. In this paper, it is argued that the ethnotaxonomic system of an indigenous community is an interjunction between its language and traditional knowledge. Both language and traditional knowledge are required to generate lexemes that are the building blocks of any classification system. TK generates scientific information related to ecology, morphology or utility of the life form while the language names it, and transmits information related to it across individuals and generations; Language gives the name while TK connects it to the appropriate denotatum. We argue that the vitality status of the community’s indigenous language and TK is reflected in its ethnotaxonomic system. We also present a newly developed Traditional Knowledge and Language Vitality index (TraLaVi) which could complement the existing indices which intend to assess the vitality status of indigenous languages and TK.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-41012017-01-30T10:36:31Z Ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge Franco, F. Hidayati, Syafitri Ghani, B. Ranaivo-Malancon, B. Biodiversity rich regions of the world are also known to harbour rich ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversities. Traditional Knowledge (TK) of indigenous communities could be one reason behind this factor as it facilitates ecosystem management and agriculture. TK is dependent on languages, without which, its transmission and accumulation is impossible. In this paper, it is argued that the ethnotaxonomic system of an indigenous community is an interjunction between its language and traditional knowledge. Both language and traditional knowledge are required to generate lexemes that are the building blocks of any classification system. TK generates scientific information related to ecology, morphology or utility of the life form while the language names it, and transmits information related to it across individuals and generations; Language gives the name while TK connects it to the appropriate denotatum. We argue that the vitality status of the community’s indigenous language and TK is reflected in its ethnotaxonomic system. We also present a newly developed Traditional Knowledge and Language Vitality index (TraLaVi) which could complement the existing indices which intend to assess the vitality status of indigenous languages and TK. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4101 National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources restricted
spellingShingle Franco, F.
Hidayati, Syafitri
Ghani, B.
Ranaivo-Malancon, B.
Ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge
title Ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge
title_full Ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge
title_fullStr Ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge
title_full_unstemmed Ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge
title_short Ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge
title_sort ethnotaxonomic systems can reflect the vitality status of indigenous languages and traditional knowledge
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4101