The resurrection of a language long lost (fwd link)

[phil cash cash]

The resurrection of a language long lost

Malcolm King
September 6, 2008

www.theage.com.au
Australia

The world's languages are dying at a rate of one a fortnight, but an Aboriginal
tongue has been brought back to life.

MUCH has been written about the need for ecological diversity to maintain a
balanced ecosystem. Yet in the City of Churches an equally profound revolution
is taking place that has linguists all over the world talking — the
resurrection of a dead Aboriginal language.

Ninna marni? Are you good? Marniai. I'm good. Wanti ninna? Where are you going?
Wodlianna. Going home.

That's Kaurna, the language of the original inhabitants of the Adelaide Plain,
the Kaurna people. It was effectively dead by 1900. It suffered the fate of
many Aboriginal people: dispersal, disease, infighting and assimilation.
English buried their tongue.

Access full article below:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-resurrection-of-a-language-long-lost-20080905-4aqi.html?page=-1