<font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><font size="4">Taiwanese linguist races to save dying language</font><br><br>The Associated Press<br>Posted January 9, 2013 at 12:08 a.m., updated January 9, 2013 at 6:16 p.m.<br><br>DAKANUA, Taiwan (AP) - A race is on to save a dying language in Taiwan, the birthplace of one of the world's major language families.<br>
<br>Only 10 people still speak Kanakanavu (KAH-nuh-KAH-nuh-voo). It belongs to a language family that experts believe spread from Taiwan 4,000 years ago and gave birth to Austronesian languages spoken today by 400 million people.<br>
<br>Many of Taiwan's 14 government-recognized aboriginal languages are at risk of extinction. The youngest good speaker of Kanakanavu is 60, and the next youngest is 73.<br><br></font><a href="http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jan/09/taiwanese-linguist-races-to-save-dying-language/">http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jan/09/taiwanese-linguist-races-to-save-dying-language/</a><div>
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</font></div><div><h1 id="article-title" class="entry-title" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><font>Linguist races to save aboriginal languages in Taiwan, birthplace of a major language family</font></h1>
<div class="article-info" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><p class="published updated dtstamp" style="margin:0px;padding:0px">Published January 09, 2013<span class="value-title" title="2013-01-09T03:40:14.000-0500"></span></p>
<p class="source-org vcard" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><span class="org fn">Associated Press</span></p></div><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><div><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><br>
</span></div></span><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><span class="dateline">DAKANUA, Taiwan –  </span>Her eyes lit bright with concentration, Taiwanese linguist Sung Li-may leans in expectantly as one of the planet's last 10 speakers of the Kanakanavu language shares his hopes for the future.</p>
<p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><br></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left">"I am already very old," says 80-year-old Mu'u Ka'angena, a leathery faced man with a tough, sinewy body and deeply veined hands. A light rain falls onto the thatched roof of the communal bamboo hut, and smoke from a dying fire drifts lazily up the walls, wafting over deer antlers, boar jawbones and ceremonial swords that decorate the interior like trophies from a forgotten time.</p>
<p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><br></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left">"Every day I think: Can our language be passed down to the next generation? It is the deepest wish in my heart that it can be."</p>
<p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><br></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left">Kanakanavu, Sung says, has a lot more going for it than just its intrinsic value. It belongs to the same language family that experts believe spread from Taiwan 4,000 years ago, giving birth to languages spoken today by 400 million people in an arc extending from Easter Island off South America to the African island of Madagascar.</p>
<p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><br></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left">"Taiwan is where it all starts," says archaeologist Peter Bellwood, who with linguist Robert Blust developed the now widely accepted theory that people from Taiwan leveraged superior navigation skills to spread their Austronesian language far and wide. At least four of Taiwan's 14 government-recognized aboriginal languages are still spoken by thousands of people, but a race is on to save the others from extinction. The youngest good speaker of Kanakanavu, also known as Southern Tsou, is 60, and the next youngest, 73.</p>
<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><br style="margin:0px;padding:0px">Read more: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/09/linguist-races-to-save-aboriginal-languages-in-taiwan-birthplace-major-language/#ixzz2Hbd2idCc" style="outline:none 0px;color:rgb(0,51,153);text-decoration:none">http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/09/linguist-races-to-save-aboriginal-languages-in-taiwan-birthplace-major-language/#ixzz2Hbd2idCc</a></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"><br>
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