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Wednesday, February 28, 2018
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A GOVERNMENT agency tasked to promote Philippine languages and dialects will unveil on March 1 in Antique province the first “language monument” in the country.
The “Bantayog Wika” is for Kinaray-a, one of several languages spoken mainly in Antique and other provinces in Visayas, according to the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF).
The landmark aims to raise public awareness on Kinaray-a and promote the continued use of the language, the KWF said.
“Language is part of the intangible cultural heritage, which we must respect, preserve and protect,” said KWF language researcher Rene Roy Cagalingan.
Installation artist Luis “Junyee” Yee Jr. designed and created the Bantayog Wika for Kinaray-a, said KWF project coordinator John Lerry Dungca.
Yee used stainless steel for the structure that is about three meters high, and laser technology to cut the ancient Baybayin font into the steel and form several lines from the hero Andres Bonifacio’s poem “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Bayan,” said Dungca.
“That will enable people to read the lines at night when Bantayog Wika for Kinaray-a is lit from within,” he said.
For the unveiling, the KWF staff will install the structure on a meter-high pedestal, which features a description of Kinaray-a, at the provincial capitol ground, he added.
Language is an intangible cultural heritage, an important aspect of national identity, Cagalingan noted.
One of “the oldest languages in Panay Island, where Antique is,” Kinaráy-a is the root of Hiligaynon and other Visayan languages, he said.
Kinaray-a is spoken in different areas in Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Palawan provinces, the KWF said, adding that it is also known as Antiqueño, Hinaraya or Karay-a.
The KWF aims to unveil Bantayog Wika monuments for other Philippine languages when and where possible, said Cagalingan. (PNA)
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