Language is the road map of culture, said American writer Rita Mae Brown.
The Philippines is home to 186 languages, but some of them have just a few speakers left while others are already considered extinct because there are no more people at all who converse in them.
In an Agence France-Presse report, anthropologist Artemio Barbosa said that up to 50 of the country's minor languages could be lost within 20 years.
Project leader Mario Carreon said that in the Philippines, there are currently, 34 languages in trouble, 11 are dying and two are already extinct.
"Meron talagang language endangerment sa ngayon. In many places sa bansa natin, there are languages that are only used by the parents or even grandparents lang, yung mga kids already speak a different language," Carreon told Manila Bulletin.
Thus the effort to preserve and save endangered Filipino languages through Marayum.
The Department of Science and Technology-funded project is a community-build online web dictionary developed by a team of computer scientists and linguists from the University of the Philippines.
"Ang isang online dictionary ay malaking tulong to help preserve a language. Kung may language dictionary din ang isang community, mas lalakas ang paglakad nila sa Department of Education na gamitin yung local language nila sa early years ng education ng mga bata sa kanila," Carreon said.
Humble beginnings
In 2016, Asi speakers asked Carreon and MA Linguistic student Mantha Sadural to make an online Asi dictionary when they visited Romblon State University.
Luckily, the team was able to secure funding from UP Diliman Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development.
Carreon said Sadural expanded on their idea and designed an infrastructure that gives the different language communities in the Philippines the tools to make an online version of their dictionary without the need for technical knowledge in setting and maintaining a web server.
"We provide tools for the language community to create, upload and maintain their own language dictionary," Sadural said a virtual forum.
Why dictionaries? Because Sadural said that dictionaries are documentations of language use and study guide that can help transmit and preserve a language for future generations.
Youth urged to volunteer
What prompted Adellsbi Lao to take part in the project as Chief Volunteer Contributor was her love for the Philippine culture.
"The problems I encounter when researching Philippine mythology is that it's not that well-documented compared to the mythologies of other countries. The consequence of this is that it becomes forgotten as time passes by. I feel that it's the same case with our Philippine languages," Lao said.
"Working with Marayum, I came to realize that we are a country of many tongues, but these tongues are slowly dying, and if we do not take an active stance to preserve it, future Filipinos will never be able to hear it," she added.
Lao also urged the youth to volunteer for their project.
"The youth's participation in this project is crucial because, in the words of Rizal, they are the hope of our country. Since a language is dead without its speakers, we count on the youth to keep it alive," she continued.
Those interested to take part in the project may message Lao directly or send an email to [email protected].
READ MORE: Marayum: This dictionary-making tool helps save ‘endangered’ PH indigenous languages