Taiwanese linguist races to save dying language (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

Taiwanese linguist races to save dying language

The Associated Press
Posted January 9, 2013 at 12:08 a.m., updated January 9, 2013 at 6:16 p.m.

DAKANUA, Taiwan (AP) - A race is on to save a dying language in Taiwan, the
birthplace of one of the world's major language families.

Only 10 people still speak Kanakanavu (KAH-nuh-KAH-nuh-voo). It belongs to
a language family that experts believe spread from Taiwan 4,000 years ago
and gave birth to Austronesian languages spoken today by 400 million people.

Many of Taiwan's 14 government-recognized aboriginal languages are at risk
of extinction. The youngest good speaker of Kanakanavu is 60, and the next
youngest is 73.

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jan/09/taiwanese-linguist-races-to-save-dying-language/
- vcstar.com

˜˜˜

Linguist races to save aboriginal languages in Taiwan, birthplace of a
major language family

Published January 09, 2013

Associated Press

DAKANUA, Taiwan –  Her eyes lit bright with concentration, Taiwanese
linguist Sung Li-may leans in expectantly as one of the planet's last 10
speakers of the Kanakanavu language shares his hopes for the future.


"I am already very old," says 80-year-old Mu'u Ka'angena, a leathery faced
man with a tough, sinewy body and deeply veined hands. A light rain falls
onto the thatched roof of the communal bamboo hut, and smoke from a dying
fire drifts lazily up the walls, wafting over deer antlers, boar jawbones
and ceremonial swords that decorate the interior like trophies from a
forgotten time.


"Every day I think: Can our language be passed down to the next generation?
It is the deepest wish in my heart that it can be."


Kanakanavu, Sung says, has a lot more going for it than just its intrinsic
value. It belongs to the same language family that experts believe spread
from Taiwan 4,000 years ago, giving birth to languages spoken today by 400
million people in an arc extending from Easter Island off South America to
the African island of Madagascar.


"Taiwan is where it all starts," says archaeologist Peter Bellwood, who
with linguist Robert Blust developed the now widely accepted theory that
people from Taiwan leveraged superior navigation skills to spread their
Austronesian language far and wide. At least four of Taiwan's 14
government-recognized aboriginal languages are still spoken by thousands of
people, but a race is on to save the others from extinction. The youngest
good speaker of Kanakanavu, also known as Southern Tsou, is 60, and the
next youngest, 73.

Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/09/linguist-races-to-save-aboriginal-languages-in-taiwan-birthplace-major-language/#ixzz2Hbd2idCc
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