When a language dies (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

When a language dies

Posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2012 at 3:30 am
By Nancy C. Dorian

When he died recently, Bobby Hogg took the Cromarty fisherfolk dialect
out of existence with him, at least as a fluently spoken mother
tongue, and the media took notice. The BBC reported on his death,
celebrating the unique nature of his native dialect. In an Associated
Press report originating in London, his dialect was spoken of as “a
little fragment of the English linguistic mosaic.” A knowledgeable
University of Aberdeen linguist spoke of this as “the first time that
an actual Scots dialect has so dramatically died with the passing of
the last native speaker.”

Access full blog article below:
http://blog.oup.com/2012/10/when-a-language-dies-scotland-gaelic/