Attitude Towards Bangru Language of Arunachal Pradesh: The Natives’ Perspective

Abstract

This paper investigates the language attitudes among Bangru in Arunachal Pradesh, an ethnically and linguistically diverse state in the north-eastern region of India. Bangru, an unclassified language cluster is spoken mainly in about 15 Bangru villages of Sarli circle in Kurung Kumey district, a northernmost frontier district bordering Tibet (China) in the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The total population of Bangru mother-tongue speakers is numbers about 1,023 (39.35%) out of approximately 2,600 persons in the Sarli circle Although there is no separate Census record on this community, however, according to the data gathered, the Bangru account for about 1.14% of the total population of Kurung Kumey district. A questionnaire was used to collect data on language preference, language parents prefer their children to learn, and reasons for language preference. Results suggest that while a positive attitude played a significant role in learning Hindi and English among some of the groups under investigation, it proved to be of no help in maintaining the ethnic language. Hindi and English were reported as very important for education, economic privileges and social interaction. Ethnic language, on the other hand, was preferred for purely symbolic reasons (symbolizing a group’s ethnic identity).