World’s rarest language on verge of extinction

Linguists from the University of Oxford are striving to preserve the Dusner, an endangered Indonesian tribal language, as its only three speakers were reportedly injured in natural disasters.

Two of them narrowly escaped death during a flood and the other was living next to a volcano when it erupted, the Astralian newspaper said.

The scholars including Mary Dalrymple, a professor of syntax, have visited the country to capture the language, the newspaper reported.

“It has been a nervous few months waiting to hear whether or not our speakers survived,” she was quoted as saying. “The woman was badly affected by the volcano. She was stuck and couldn’t leave, but she did survive.”

There are only three Dusner speakers left, all now in their 60s and 70s. The average life expectancy of the country is only 71.

“This illustrates why our project is so important. We only found out that this language existed last year, and if we don’t document it before it dies out, it will be lost forever,” the professor said.

According to her, Dusner-speaking parents considered Malay more important when getting a job and did not teach the language to their children. Therefore, their decedents do not speak the language. There is also no written form, so all stories or history told in the language can only be communicated orally.

The report said there are roughly 130 languages that are spoken by less than 10 people. There are about 6,000 different languages spoken all over the world for now, with half of them likely to disappear by the end of the century.

Kang Yoon-seung Intern reporter
(koreacolin@gmail.com)

source: http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110425000747