The loneliness of the last native speaker (fwd link)

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VANISHING TONGUES

The loneliness of the last native speaker

Dozens are on the verge of taking to their graves a system of communication that
will vanish forever

Dec 21, 2008 04:30 AM
THE ECONOMIST
Toronto, CA

Think of the solitude felt by Marie Smith Jones before she died this year in her
native Alaska, at 89. She was the last person who knew the language of the Eyak
people as a mother tongue.

Or imagine Ned Mandrell, who died in 1974 – he was the last native speaker of
Manx, similar to Irish and Scots Gaelic.

Both these people had the comfort of being surrounded, at least some of the
time, by enthusiasts who knew that something precious was vanishing and tried
to record and learn whatever they could of a vanishing tongue.

In remote parts of the world, dozens more people are at the point of taking to
their graves a system of communication that will never be recorded or
reconstructed.

Access full article:
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/556906