Te reo giving a boost to Brazilian languages
Te reo Ma¯ori could help breathe life back into endangered languages in Brazil.
Ma¯ori academics have travelled to Brazil to talk with language teachers and now Brazilian academics are visiting ko¯hanga reo and schools.
A joint project between Ma¯ori and Brazilian academics started two years ago, when Marcus Maia of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro approached staff at the Ma¯ori studies department at Massey University, Te Pu¯tahi a Toi.
Ma¯ori had been named the most successfully revived indigenous language in the world by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Maia said. So the linguistics professor wanted to learn more about the steps Ma¯ori had taken, and see if they could also be used in Brazil.
‘‘In the 1980s, Unesco started to monitor the vitality and state of the languages in the world. Most Brazilian languages are categorised as critical or severely endangered ... they’ve been dying.
‘‘When a language dies you lose a way of thinking and looking at the world, different classifications of animals and plants, and lots of knowledge and wisdom that comes from ancient times,’’ Maia said.
The groups are sharing knowledge, and last year four Ma¯ori academics travelled to Brazil to talk with language teachers and community leaders about the experience of reinvigorating te reo.
This semester, Maia is based at Massey and, along with two other academics from Brazil, is visiting ko¯hanga reo and other schools. They also observed Ma¯ori Language Week.
One of the group, Dr Marcia Nascimento, is a member of the Kaingang ethnic group, the third largest in Brazil. It would be ‘‘a dream’’ if the Kaingang language could follow the same path Ma¯ori had, she said.
‘‘Ko¯hanga reo are special because the language and culture are the main purpose, so children have the opportunity to have the language early, firsthand.’’
The team would submit its findings to Unesco, Maia said. ‘‘So this project has the potential to spread to other countries.’’
Mari Ropata-Te Hei of Massey is taking part in the exchange, and said the Ma¯ori experience in fighting for their language’s future had already benefited indigenous groups in Hawaii and North America.
‘‘The exciting thing is, what I was taught is the language we have is not our own. It is left to us by our tupuna, so we have to make sure that we are giving it to those people who ask for it.
‘‘Unfortunately, we still have people in Aotearoa that feel that te reo Ma¯ori and Ma¯ori culture have no place here, but we’re now on the world stage.’’