Abstract
The objective of the study was to identify the problems of languages of minority in general, and more specifically, the Beja language in Sudan. In order to achieve this goal, a question of how to preserve the languages of minority was raised. This study responds to (Morin, 1997), recommendation about preserving Bedawiet language; therefore, this research looked up for literature to answer the question. Surprisingly, very limited resources were found and collecting oral data was the only option that (Morin, 1997), referred to. Luckily, some active Beja poets have already uploaded songs and poems in order to preserve the culture and Beja heritage. Therefore, the research contacted with them and translated the songs into English and an IPA is used to script the Bedawiet sounds. As the collected data was categorized into two periods; the descriptive analytical approach was implemented to address the question of languages dying out. The data summary concludes that traditional songs had average of lower than 2 borrowed words, whereas in modern songs have exceeded 45% in one poem (Poem, 16). A volunteering panel that judged the songs had resulted in reducing the borrowed words in the modern period as well. Based on these findings, the study recommends reactivating the panel’s tasks and teaching these songs to children at schools. Teaching Bedawiet syllable is available at the Beja Cultural Studies Centre at Red Sea University, so the study recommends training the teachers in the centre and involving parents in the processes of language maintaining.
Keywords: Traditional Beja songs, Beja minority, preserving languages, Bedawiet poems and literature, Bedawiet heritage in Sudan
