Minister highlights importance of preserving local languages
By Caleb Chikwawawa
The Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation Emily Jesaya has highlighted the importance of preserving local languages which she said have brought communities together and further reminded humanity of its origins.
She was officiating on Wednesday at the International Mother Language Day celebrations held at the National Arts Gallery in Harare.
Jesaya said “our Shona language is what unites us with our ancestors and the celebration day reminds us that our language is the source of our cultural values”.
“It is through languages that we interact with our soroundings. It is through these languages that we express the deepest feelings of our hearts, giving wisdom and connecting with our ancestors. “The International Mother Language Day reminds us that not only is language used to communicate but a source through which we know our history, ” she said.
Zimbabwe Media Commission chairperson, Professor Ruby Magosvongwe (pictured below) also spoke at the event saying, if people lose their languages, they were also losing the essence of their relationships.
“My child ould today say ‘I saw your brother’ or says ‘my mother’s brotheris a home’. They will never referto them as uncles. That also conribues in a way to child sexual abuse.
“When we neglect our mother languaes, we also tend to abandon our relationships that speak to how we communiate as a people. That has come with a lot of misfortune in our midst,” said Magosvongwe.
The International Mother Language Day was declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO in 1999 to highlight the importance of mother languages in preserving cultural identity and promoting linguistic diversity.
The event highlighted the importance of mother languages in promoting cultural preservation, identify formation and language diversity.
Professors from Arts industry, University Deans from faculty of Arts, language teaching organizations and school students from various schools were in attendance.
