UNT researchers work to preserve dying language (fwd link)

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UNT researchers work to preserve dying language

11:21 PM CST on Sunday, January 25, 2009
By Candace Carlisle / Staff Writer

There are only about 60 to 70 Yahgans — a tribal group living on the southern
tip of Chile and Argentina — left in the world.

Only one fluent speaker of the tribal language remains.

And students and researchers at the University of North Texas have succeeded in
preserving the language, which was on the brink of demise.

“It is a language that [could] become extinct,” Rozzi said. “We have for, more
or less, 15 years have been working with them to preserve it.”

Preserving the language is important, but it’s also about preserving a culture
and way of life, he said.

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