Nearly Lost

[Andre Cramblit]

not sure about this story but you can find some great Karuk stuff at:
http://www.ncidc.org/sounds/sndindex.htm
http://www.ncidc.org/bright/karuk.html
http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/hvhs/
http://www.ncidc.org/karuk/index.html


On Jun 1, 2005, at 3:03 AM, Wolfgang Hess wrote:

Andre Cramblit wrote:

> Bid to save nearly-lost language
> Last Updated: Thursday, 26 May, 2005, 19:23 GMT 20:23 UK
> BBC News
>
> It is spoken by only a handful of people but, after 5,000 years, a rare
> native American language is to get its own dictionary.
>
> Some 300 people, descendants of a Native American people in west  
> Canada,
> still speak Nuuchahnulth.
>
> But almost no young people in the community on Vancouver Island know  
> the
> ancient language.
>
> The professor behind the dictionary project hopes the text will help  
> the
> language survive by aiding teachers.
>
> Long words
>
> The dictionary, which has 7,500 entries, is the fruit of 15 years of
> research into the language.
>
> It is based on both work with current speakers and notes from linguist
> Edward Sapir, taken almost a century ago.
>
> SAVED SYLLABLES
> puqee-oh - Always-absent woman
> hina?aluk - I look out for what I know is to happen
> Simaacyin?ahinnaanuhsim?aki - their whaling spears were poised in the
> bow
> haasulapi-ck'in?i - sing a little louder
>
> "Less than 10% of the traditional population now speaks the  
> Nuuchahnulth
> language," Dr John Stonham of Newcastle University told the BBC News
> website.
>
> He said linguists found the language fascinating because of its
> complexity.
>
> "Entire sentences can be built up into a single word," Dr Stonham said.
>
> "But there are also some concepts that can be encapsulated in a single
> syllable. A single sound describes the state of remaining in seclusion
> when the husband goes out to hunt, for example."
>
> Dr Stonham hopes providing a dictionary of words will encourage  
> teachers
> to use the language in the classroom and that older people too will be
> spurred into passing their language on to the next generation.
>
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4583455.stm
>
> Published: 2005/05/26 19:23:58 GMT
> © BBC MMV

Dear Colleague:

thank you for distributing such news via the Endangered languages list.
As a phonetician, I am not only interested in the structure and
vocabulary of this language, but also in its sound to be preserved.
Are there plans for recording samples of this and other comparable  
languages, or are already
records out there?

Kind regards,
Wolfgang Hess

--  

----------------------------------------------------------------
Wolfgang Hess, Professor
IKP, Universität Bonn
Poppelsdorfer Allee 47, D-53115 Bonn, Germany

Prorektor für Lehre, Studium und Studienreform, Universität Bonn

phone +49(228)735638 and -5637; fax +49(228)735639
e'mail: wgh at ikp.uni-bonn.de   Web: http://www.ikp.uni-bonn.de

Archive Coordinator, International Speech Communication Assoc. (ISCA)
ISCA website: http://www.isca-speech.org
----------------------------------------------------------------



.:. 

André Cramblit: andre.p.cramblit.86 at alum.dartmouth.org is the  
Operations Director Northern California Indian Development Council  
NCIDC (http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit that meets the development  
needs of American Indians

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