The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak

The disappearance of language normally follows from the disappearance of culture, and vice versa. Both are critical elements of group identity and the survival of a language is dependent on their continuous vitality. This paper presents preliminary findings of an exploratory study on a group of th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Norahim, Norazuna, Kayad, Florence G.
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/349/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/349/1/The_Vitality_of_the_Language_and_Culture_abstract.pdf
_version_ 1848834523226177536
author Norahim, Norazuna
Kayad, Florence G.
author_facet Norahim, Norazuna
Kayad, Florence G.
author_sort Norahim, Norazuna
building UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The disappearance of language normally follows from the disappearance of culture, and vice versa. Both are critical elements of group identity and the survival of a language is dependent on their continuous vitality. This paper presents preliminary findings of an exploratory study on a group of the Bidayuh people in Sarawak who are facing imminent resettlement due to development in the form of a dam. The Tibiya (also known as Biya) people who originally belong in the Upper Padawan area will be resettled in the Penrissen area. This could have an adverse effect on the linguistic and cultural heritage of the group. The current estimated population of the group is 2000 comprising 12 small villages of which 4 are affected by the dam. They will be uprooted from their original speech community and separated from the rest of the group into a linguistically new environment. The Tibiya group identifies themselves with the Biatah dialect while the dialect of the community around the resettlement area is Penrissen (Emperoh). With the reference to the Tibiya situation, this paper discusses the intricacy of the relationship between language and culture, and demonstrates how it may play a major role in determining the survival of the Tibuya dialect in the near future. This paper also considers other demographical factors that could change the language choice patterns of its community members.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T05:53:20Z
format Working Paper
id unimas-349
institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T05:53:20Z
publishDate 2013
publisher Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS)
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling unimas-3492020-08-25T06:57:41Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/349/ The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak Norahim, Norazuna Kayad, Florence G. AC Collections. Series. Collected works The disappearance of language normally follows from the disappearance of culture, and vice versa. Both are critical elements of group identity and the survival of a language is dependent on their continuous vitality. This paper presents preliminary findings of an exploratory study on a group of the Bidayuh people in Sarawak who are facing imminent resettlement due to development in the form of a dam. The Tibiya (also known as Biya) people who originally belong in the Upper Padawan area will be resettled in the Penrissen area. This could have an adverse effect on the linguistic and cultural heritage of the group. The current estimated population of the group is 2000 comprising 12 small villages of which 4 are affected by the dam. They will be uprooted from their original speech community and separated from the rest of the group into a linguistically new environment. The Tibiya group identifies themselves with the Biatah dialect while the dialect of the community around the resettlement area is Penrissen (Emperoh). With the reference to the Tibiya situation, this paper discusses the intricacy of the relationship between language and culture, and demonstrates how it may play a major role in determining the survival of the Tibuya dialect in the near future. This paper also considers other demographical factors that could change the language choice patterns of its community members. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2013 Working Paper PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/349/1/The_Vitality_of_the_Language_and_Culture_abstract.pdf Norahim, Norazuna and Kayad, Florence G. (2013) The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak. [Working Paper] (Submitted)
spellingShingle AC Collections. Series. Collected works
Norahim, Norazuna
Kayad, Florence G.
The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak
title The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak
title_full The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak
title_fullStr The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak
title_full_unstemmed The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak
title_short The Vitality of the Language and Culture of the Tibiya People of Sarawak
title_sort vitality of the language and culture of the tibiya people of sarawak
topic AC Collections. Series. Collected works
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/349/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/349/1/The_Vitality_of_the_Language_and_Culture_abstract.pdf