Sundanese Qur'anic Commentaries and Its Contributions on Preserving Sundanese Language in West Java

摘要

Endangerment of local language becomes an issue of discussion among many linguists all over the world. In fact, language serves as an identity of a nation. Thus, any attempts to preserve local language become the important thing to do. There are many strategies to preserve the existence of local language and one of them is through literacy. This study attempts to investigate the contribution of Sundanese exegesis (tafsir Sunda) in preserving and maintaining the vitality of Sundanese language. This study uses qualitative method with two components: textual study and fieldwork. This research shows the role of tafsir Sunda in preserving Sundanese language in several aspects namely: the contribution of text material transmitted in several pesantren, especially traditional pesantren, that use Sundanese as a language of instruction in its teaching; the contribution of model of transmission that use regularly and continuously; and it to be transformed into a digital mode to ease young generations accessing it. Pesantren, pengajian and majlis ta'lim are considered places to practice Sundanese language in teaching and learning process of tafsir Sunda. These factors can be the effective tools to sustain and preserve Sundanese language from the extinctions.