Blagar
[aka Belagar, Balagur, Kaera]Classification: Timor-Alor-Pantar
·threatened
-
Threatened
60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
-
<10,000
-
"A rough estimate then [in the 1970s] was that the total number of speakers of Blagar varieties did not exceed 10,000 people."
- SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
-
- TRANSMISSION
-
- MORE ON VITALITY
-
"The language is still transmitted to the younger generations, but in October 2012, elder Blagar speakers I met during a short stay in Kalabahi, complained about the decreasing speaking competence of their grandchildren and the increase of Indonesian in their language."
- OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
-
Indonesian
- LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS
"Contacts with the outside world are increasing. Already in the 1970s Blagar was no longer used in the church or the mosque, but had been replaced by Indonesian. At school the use of Blagar was discouraged to put it mildly; Indonesian was the sole language of instruction. For secondary and higher education Blagar people must migrate to Kalabahi or further afield. In the early 2000s, electricity reached Pura Island, and with it came television, another source of influence of Indonesian. As a result, bilingualism in Blagar and Indonesian has become generalized.""
- More on Orthography
"A dictionary of Blagar exists in manuscript form and is currently being prepared for publication."
- PLACES
- Indonesia
- LOCATION DESCRIPTION
"Varieties of Blagar are spoken in all but two of the villages on the island of Pura (a dead volcano of over 1,000m high), on the smaller island of Tereweng south of Pura, and in a number of villages on the east coast of Pantar opposite Pura and Tereweng. Outside this core area there are scattered groups of Blagar migrants, mainly in the regional and provincial capitals of Kalabahi and Kupang."